West Joins East
by C.Queen
Summary: Sequel of Rome and Paris. Quatre's being stalked by a violent female bent on having him and killing any woman who gets in her way. To protect him his assistant goes undercover as his lover to stay close. After all, it's all just pretend, right?
1. Plotting A Plan

Disclaimer: As in all my fics I own nothing but the original characters and the plot lines. Everything else belongs to someone else and as always I hope you read and review cause I'd love to hear from you. 

NOTE 

This in a sequel, people which means there's a fic out there before this one that you should read first in order to get this one. However if you are too lazy to do that or don't want to then here is a brief summary so you won't be completely lost. In the original fic Rome and Paris, an alternate universe type thing Noin and Heero are actually siblings named Rome and Paris. Through a series of events everyone else finds this out while Rome and Paris are being threatened by an unknown bad guy later revealed as their cousin Cecil. Cecil is killed though and while both Rome and Paris are injured they're alive and well. Original characters you should know about are Julian (a good cousin) Sue Ling (his assistant and bodyguard) and Asia (Quatre's secretary). Some of this will still be confusing but in that case you'll just have to read the original lol. 

Plotting A Plan 

Quatre Winner sat behind his desk and brooded as he stared at the letter sitting on his desk. The contents of the letter had been enough to send shivers down his spine and he left cold even though it was still summery warm outside his office. He'd called the guys to his office because he'd promised them he would and frankly he wanted their help. He felt way too over his head at the moment and he knew that he could count on his friends to yank him out and figure out how to keep him up. Hearing a knock on his door Quatre looked up and called out enter, watching Asia open the door as his four best friends trooped in, taking seats on the couches Quatre had had put in his office to give it a more welcoming appearance. Waiting till Asia had closed the door behind her Quatre sighed then picked up the letter. "I got another one and it's bad. Really bad." 

"How bad?" Trowa wanted to know, concern on his face though only his friends could see it or knew where to look for that matter. 

"A week ago I had a business lunch with one of my advertising executives, Emily Gardens. My..the letter writer mentioned it, saying all these terrible things like calling an Emily a whore and things like that. She also said that she was going to make an example of Emily. Of what happens to anyone who tries to take me away from her. I called Emily at work...she wasn't there. She's in the hospital right now for an extreme allergic reaction to almonds. The thing is she knows about it and no one can figure out how finely diced almonds found there way into her dinner at a restaurant yesterday." 

"Holy Cow." Duo said with a surprised then really worried look. "You think this psycho somehow managed to get in and tampered with this Emily's food?" 

"I talked to Emily's secretary and she said that Emily goes to that restaurant all the time, that it's her favorite. The cooks there know she's allergic to almonds and she's always sure to ask the waiters about them whenever she's ordering something she's never had before since her reaction to them is so severe." Quatre said with a guilty and sorry look. Logically he knew this was none of his fault, that he'd done nothing wrong but that didn't stop the little voice in his head that said this was his fault. That Emily was in the hospital, her family and friends suffering because of him. 

"I know that look and stop thinking that right now or we'll have to hurt you." Paris ordered with a dark look in his eyes. Quatre would blame himself for just about anything if you gave him half the chance. "None of this is your fault so don't you dare think that it was. You couldn't have known that she was having you watched or that she'd do something like this as a result." 

"Well it's pretty safe to say that this is a stalker and not a shy admirer now." Trowa said calmly though this was bugging him too. He knew that Quatre was going to blame himself no matter what they said and he hated to see Quatre beat himself up over things that he couldn't have foreseen or prevented. "We've had no leads on the paper and even less from having Quatre watched to see if we could spot someone following him. Whoever this person is they're good and well organized." 

"So the question remains how the hell are we going to find this wacko?" Duo said with a hot look, fired up and ready to beat this bitch up for putting such a miserable and hurt look on Quatre's face. "I mean odds are she's only gonna get worse before she gets better." 

) 

"And that no female is going to be safe around me. I mean my god the most physical contact Emily and I had at that lunch was shaking hands and passing each other the salt and pepper." Quatre said as he tried his best not to slump in his seat. "It's like she views every available woman near me as a threat to her." 

"Which may be the key to all this." Trowa said with a thoughtful look on his face as he weighed the pros and cons of the idea. "It seems to me that we need to catch her doing something along the lines of what she did to this Emily before we can prove she's really done anything wrong. Sure the letters would be enough to give her a slap on the wrist but if we can't prove she's been deliberately hurting people then she's not really going to pay, much less get the help she needs." 

"But how are we supposed to catch her in the act if we don't even know who she is?" Wufei wanted to know though he had a feeling he knew where Trowa was going with this. "Unless of course we knew who she was going to strike." Wufei said slowly, watching Trowa as the two shared a look of understanding. 

"'But how would we know that...unless we made sure that she had a definite competitor." Duo said slowly, answering his own question. "If there was someone who was a real threat to her happily ever after then she'd go after that person and we'd be waiting to nab her for it." 

"Are you talking about getting some poor woman to play bait?" Quatre said, his eyes going wide with horror at the very thought. "There is no way I'm letting you guys do that. I'm not going to have some girl risk her life like that." 

"To really push her though they'd have to seem like they were beyond close, lovers at the very least." Paris said, the four completely ignoring Quatre who continued to forbid them to do this. "And they'd have to spend a lot of time together which isn't easy with his schedule and workload. The media will pick up on it of course which will help but that won't be enough if there isn't plenty of zing to it." 

"Not to mention she's libel to be suspicious if Quatre suddenly turns up with a lover since she's been watching, not to mention studying him. She knows too much about him to think that he'd casually take a lover and we need her mad enough to be rash, to not think things through thoroughly." Wufei pointed out logically as they hashed out the plan and its flaws. "It would be best if we could use someone with some sort of connection to Quatre. A woman she knows he has contact with on a regular basis and therefore has had the chance to get closer to him." 

"There isn't one like that." Quatre said as le leapt on the comment, thinking if he could prove enough flaws they'd drop it. "It's true that I have plenty of female employees but I don't spend much time in the company of any of them. As for female friends I have those two but most of them are married, involved with someone or past history has shown we didn't suit." 

"You mean when push comes to shove you really have no social life or luck with the ladies, Q man." Duo said dryly. "But there has to be someone." 

"There isn't. The only female I spend huge chunks of time with is..." Quatre began then stopped but it was too late. 

) 

"Asia. You spend more time with Asia then you do sleeping or eating." Paris said as a slow smile crossed his face as the plan took shape. "And she's with you all the time, knows you better then anyone else and to top it all off she's a babe. Perfect." 

"You are not using Asia as bait and that's final!" Quatre practically yelled, surprising everyone in the room since Quatre hardly ever raised his voice, especially without an apology right after. But he was serious and he wasn't sorry. There was no way he was going to let them risk his personal assistant/secratary be used as bait for some twisted maniac who would do lord only knows what to Asia is she ever got her hands on her. "I won't allow it." 

"Using me as bait for what?" Asia wanted to know from the doorway, having been about to come in and offer the guys coffee. She'd been about to knock when she'd heard Quatre's loud declaration and since they were talking about her she thought it only fair that she be allowed to open the door and eavesdrop to see what they were saying about her. "Because I should state now that I absolutely hate fishing and think it's inhumane." 

"It's nothing, absolutely nothing. And you know you should knock." Quatre said, his feathers thoroughly ruffled as he sent the guys looks that said to keep their mouths shut. 

"Well it's you so it's not like I could ever walk in on you doing something inappropriate." Asia pointed out as she wandered into the room, taking a seat on the arm rest of one of the couches like she owned the place. "I mean if I ever walked in here to find you even kissing someone I'd die from the shock. Now what is it you don't want these guys telling me, Boss man?" 

"This is why people think I was crazy for hiring you. You treat me like I'm the employee instead of the other way around." Quatre muttered under his breath darkly. "And it's not important." 

"Asia, I take it you know how to handle yourself in dangerous situations right?" Duo said as he sent her a just ignore Quatre look. 

) 

"You mean like Paris in the morning when he hasn't had any coffee yet?" Asia said with a cheeky grin then did her best not to chuckle at the look on Quatre's face. Her boss was way too stressed about something. "And yes I can handle myself in most any situation I find myself in. I kick ass real good and I'm pretty handy with a gun if need be. Why? Am I going to be a plant somewhere? Undercover mission?" Asia asked, her eyes brightening at the very idea. "Tell me, tell me." Asia demanded as she practically vibrated with eagerness. 

"Actually we'd need you to pretend to be Quatre's lover so that we can catch a crazy stalker who's after him and has shown herself to be violent." Duo replied bluntly even as Quatre sputtered out a protest. "Interested?" 

"A stalker? Someone..is stalking Quatre?" Asia demanded to know as her blue eyes went as big as saucers. "Violent...she hurt you?" Asia said as her eyes went even wider with panic and she was out of her seat and at Quatre's side in a moment, looking him over anxiously as she tugged him closer. "What did she do? Why didn't you tell me? How bad are you hurt? Damn it say something!" 

"I'm okay, Asia. It wasn't me she hurt." Quatre said softly, touched that she would worry about him but then again she tended to know when to worry and when to yell at him. Sometimes she did both just for the hell of it too. "And I don't want you doing this so don't worry about it. Then again..why hasn't she gone after you? I actually hug you and we're way closer then Emily and I." 

"Emily? Who the hell is Emily? And are you saying she's going after your girlfriends? I thought I knew all your girlfriends..if you can even call them girlfriends since you treat them like your sisters half the time." Asia said looking both confused and worried at the same time. This was so very confusing. 

"I do not treat them like my sisters and Emily Gardens. Remember I had lunch with her a little while ago. A business lunch which unfortunately wasn't viewed as such." Quatre said with a sigh even as he tried to figure out why she hadn't been a target. Not to mention that all these little digs about his relationships with women were getting more then a tad annoying. "Why weren't you a target?" 

"Because you'd never date a girl like me if I were the last woman on the planet and it was up to us to repopulate the world." Asia pointed out logically with a wide grin on her face while Quatre's jaw looked ready to hit the carpet. "Okay, okay so maybe you'd guilt yourself into it. But seriously if this stalker knows you then she knows that I'm no threat simply in that I don't date guys like you and you don't date girls like me. I mean look at it this way, Quatre. If I saw a guy I was dating talking to a mousy bookworm type lady I'd be a lot less likely to get territorial and possessive then say if he was talking to a blonde bombshell with a huge rack. Just like if she saw you with me she'd see a businessman with an employee, nothing more. Hell you spend over a quarter of your life in my company and never once has there even been a whiff of gossip about us being a couple. I mean come on, think about it." 

) 

"She has a point, guys. There is no way Quatre could bag someone like Asia." Duo said with a sad look on his face. He'd just gotten a great idea and now he just had to make Quatre fall into the trap. 

"What do you mean I couldn't ever get a girl like Asia? Why couldn't I?" Quatre demanded to know getting insulted even if it wasn't the time or the place for it. So okay he wasn't a stud like Duo but he could get girls thank you very much. 

"Well because you're just too nice." Paris said picking up on where Duo was going with this. "I mean if they were looking for the poster boy for Victorian male ideals then you'd be perfect for it. You're just too damn goody goody for girls like Asia. You wouldn't know what to do with a girl like her either for that matter. Come to think of it I'd imagine they'd scare the hell out of guys like you. If there were guys like you which I've yet to meet." 

"I am not a goody goody." Quatre argued, starting to get more then a little worked up about all this. They were his friends damn it. They were suppose to be on his side. "And Asia's a great girl, any guy would be glad to have her for a boyfriend." 

"And yet you've never made a move on her." Trowa pointed out, doing his best not to smirk at the look on Quatre's face. Obviously the idea had never come into Quatre's pure, choir boy mind. "Face it, Quatre. You wouldn't know how to properly pick up a girl if your life depended upon it. There is no way you'd ever be able to convince anyone you were involved with Asia even if you made it your life's work. There are just some things you can't do and this is definitely one of them. We were idiots to even think you two could pull it off." 

"I could to." Quatre argued as he fell oh so neatly into their trap. "There is absolutely no reason why I couldn't get a girl like Asia if I set my mind to it." 

"And I could too pull it off if I wanted to though admittedly only someone of my talents and character could pull it off." Asia added with a huff, not even realizing that she was not only locking the door behind them but sealing it shut. 

"Then it's settled. Provided of course that Asia is willing to play along with our little plan." Duo said with a grin while Quatre gapped at him like a fish, slowly realizing that he'd been played and walked blindly into the trap they'd set for him. "It'll be dangerous though so if you don't want to do it that's fine too. Odds are you'll be safe but as in everything there's just no guarantees." 

"I'll do it." Asia said with a shrug, her agreement only making Quatre gap more. She considered Quatre a good friend, like a brother sorta and she wasn't going to just sit around while some crazy bitch made his life a living hell. The only one that was allowed to mess with Quatre's head was her and she'd never been good at sharing. She'd show that bitch exactly what happened when someone got it into their head to cause problems for a friend of hers. "I've been wanting to turn him into a normal man for months now and this is my chance. Plus it should be fun and someone needs to take care of him. If this stalker goes after him she's going to have to get through me first and no one hurts my boss man but me." 

"I am normal." Quatre said in a horrified voice, his mind centered on Asia's offhanded comment. 

"No you aren't. Normal guys don't go to the opera, wear pink and consider a kiss on the mouth a big step in the relationship." Asia said dryly, amused when Quatre's color went up. "But don't worry, no drastic changes. Luckily for you my hair appointment got rescheduled for tomorrow so you won't have to be going around with a girl with white and black hair like I planned. Guess I'll go for just black, try to look more the part of your girl. But don't think I'm going to change my style, no guy is worth becoming like all those senators and politicians women. I mean for god sakes pastels?" Asia said with a shudder just thinking about it. 


	2. Hands on Training

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and plots. What I do own is mine, all mine and anyone who steals my ideas will be persecuted outside the law lol. Anyway I hope you enjoy and please review cause I'm addicted to them and the more I have the happier I am. Have a great day and a Merry Christmas too. 

Hands on Training 

The next day Quatre came to work feeling more then a little nervous and uncomfortable, never a good way to start the day. Everyone had made plans for his stalker but no one was willing to listen to him when he tried to talk them out of using Asia. It was all his fault that she'd gotten involved anyway, his pride, not to mention ego. He'd played right into their hands like a real idiot. And now he was definitely going to suffer the consequences, Quatre thought gloomily as he stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for his floor. He was working at Preventers today, his main office tomorrow by Asia's orders. It was really sad that his assistant was the one who ordered him around, Quatre thought with a long suffering sigh. She'd been doing it since day one. Everyone had agreed that they needed to get an idea of how she was getting her information and Asia was of the opinion that she had the perfect idea how. She'd had a gleam in her eye that Quatre hadn't liked at all but she'd refused to elaborate, that gleam still there hours later when they'd left for their homes last night. What did she have planned or primed to spring out at him? He was very close to terrified to find out. The elevator doors opening Quatre walked out and down the hallway, going to the very end of the hallway where his office was. As usual Asia was already behind her desk, typing away as if there wasn't anything going on. "Good morning." Quatre said with as much a smile as he could manage. 

"Hi ya, nice suit." Asia said as she looked up from the computer with her usual sunny smile. "No big messages to pass on, what you have is on your desk, your coffee will be ready in a minute or so and I baked cinnamon buns last night. There's one on your desk so eat it and then come out and tell me what a marvelous cook I am and how lucky you are to have me as your darling and irreplaceable assistant." Asia said with a wider grin, her eyes dancing with merriment. Someone was in a really good mood today. 

Getting even more worried now Quatre nodded then headed into his office, his eyes going dark with greed when his nose was hint my the unmistakable scent of baked goods loaded with sugary goodness. Walking over to his desk he found a huge cinnamon bun waiting for him, generously covered in icing and wiping all thoughts of the breakfast he'd eaten a half an hour ago from his mind. "I've died and gone to heaven." Quatre said as he resisted the urge to rub his hands together greedily as he sat down then went about devouring his treat, completely forgetting that he should be worried about what she was planning for him. 

) 

Asia looked at the clock at noon and felt a slow, decidedly wicked grin slid across her features. It was time to start her lovely little plan and put it in motion. Rubbing her hands together Asia got up and walking over to Quatre's door opened it slightly to remind Quatre that she had her hair appointment and would be back at 1:30. Hearing him call out that he'd heard and understood she reminded him not to skip lunch because she wasn't there to nag him into it then headed out and off to get her hair done. By the time she'd returned to her desk at a little after 1:30 she'd received plenty of compliments and wolf whistles. In other words part A of the Piss the Stalker Bitch Off was complete. At her desk a little later then she'd intended she called down to Duo to make sure he was ready and hadn't forgotten his part. The cheerful pilot picking up he assured her he hadn't forgotten and wished her luck, chuckling the whole time. Grinning Asia hung up then walked over to Quatre's door again, walking in when he called out to enter. "So what do you think, boss man?" Asia inquired as she walked into the room. 

"Hmm?" Quatre said as he looked up from his papers then literally almost felt his jaw fall. What the hell? Asia looked like..well she didn't look like Asia at all except for the eyes and body. "You look like a fairy queen or a pixie." Quatre said stupidly, never having seen her with short hair, much less hair of a normal color. It was as short as his now only hers was curly and black. She looked..well fairly normal and very cute. He wasn't use to her looking normal, he didn't know what to think of this. 

"Really? You think so?" Asia said with a surprised look, beaming with pleasure after the shock wore off. She actually liked it too and after they caught the stalker she could always add blue or red highlights. Now that would be cool. But her boss had never looked at her with male appreciation before, it was sorta weird but flattering because Quatre was rather dense when it came to noticing a female. "Thanks. More your style of girl now, huh?" 

"No, not really. It's still you and everyone says I couldn't get a girl like you if my life depended on it, more so now that you look like this." Quatre said with a grin. "But if my opinion means anything I've never seen you look better. Short hair suits you." 

Not quite sure how to take that Asia just smiled then remembered why she'd come in besides to show him her new look. "Well I like it too. Anyway it's time to begin Operation Couple. We have twenty minutes till show time." 

Feeling his stomach knot up instantly Quatre could feel ulcers forming and his heartbeat becoming erratic. "What are you going to do?" 

) 

"You mean what are we going to do." Asia corrected, a little concerned with his fading color but knowing with amusement she'd be bringing that white to tomato red once he heard her plan. "But don't worry, I'm going to do most of the work since this is far from your area of expertise. If I let you be in charge you'd never pull it off." 

"Never pull what off?" Quatre asked in a small voice, knowing that he didn't want to know. 

"My plan. Now listen to me first before you give yourself a heart attack, Boss man. This stalker knows a lot about you and what's happening in your life right? That indicates that either she's someone you have contact with more then you realize or she's close to someone who's close to you. My plan is to try to figure out exactly where this person is getting their information from and therefore I think what we need to do is see how long it takes her to react to my plan. If she reacts immediately then odds are she was here in the building when it happened, Paris and Duo will be monitoring the calls too just in case. If she doesn't react though the odds are she has no connection to Preventers and is either getting it from your normal office or socially. The lovely form of communication known as gossip will be our unknowing carrier pigeon. Following me so far?" 

"I'm following and what you're saying makes a lot of sense. You want to do something that will start gossip which will then be spread throughout the building today by gabbing women with nothing better to do then talk about other people. My only question is what exactly is your plan to make her angry?" Quatre wanted to know, already preparing to keel over dead if it was as bad as he imagined it could be. Death was preferable. 

"Well it's got to be juicy because otherwise it won't seem worth mentioning." Asia explained, absently thinking she should have locked the door so he couldn't run away from her. "So my plan is this. In twenty minutes or so Duo is going to send the biggest gossip Preventers has to offer here, to your office. Matilda Roth has the biggest mouth this organization has to offer and it's always moving. She's also a very curious and sneaky person for that matter. Anyway Duo is to tell her to knock on your office door then go straight in because you're expecting her. I know her, she won't wait for you to tell her to come in. She'll knock and then she'll open in which case she'll take a good hard look at us then go running out of here to tell the first hundred people she sees." 

"And what is she going to be telling everyone she saw? Us kissing?" Quatre said wearily though this wasn't so bad. It was actually a good plan now that he thought about it. She was likely planning for them to be kissing or embracing, nothing terrible. He could handle this, he'd been worried for nothing. 

"Sorta." Asia said then checking his clock did some numbers in her head. "Okay we'll start working up to it now." Asia said with a definite nod as she walked around his desk, swirling the chair and Quatre towards her as she hopped into his lap, straddling him and sending his face into the category of fire engine red. 

) 

"ASIA!" Quatre practically yelled, his face going so hot he was surprised it didn't just melt off his neck. Good God but she was-his lap- her skirt riding up. "What the hell are you doing!" 

"Well it wouldn't do for you to be all red when Matilda gets here. I figured it would take you about fifteen minutes to get use to it enough not to be more then a little pink when she arrives." Asia said with a giggle, finding his lap surprisingly comfortable. While he adjusted Asia went to work loosening his tie then went for his buttons, managing to get the top two out before he grabbed her wrists. "Oh lighten up, Winner. Just pretend that I'm one of your nieces, looking for a story from Uncle Quatre." 

"None of my nieces are you, much less built like you." Quatre said with a half panicky, half embarrassed look on his face. This was Asia, this was his personal assistant straddling him on his chair, in his office undoing his clothing. Was he the only one who had a problem with this? 

"Well I should hope I'm better built." Asia said with a laugh, her eyes dancing merrily as she sat there as though it were nothing, her hands primly in her lap. "And for your information if anyone saw us just hugging or even kissing they wouldn't think much of it since it's you. They'd figure there was a likely explanation and just pass it over. If it isn't obvious that it's a heated, lover's embrace then we aren't going to get very good results." 

Not knowing what to say Quatre tried counting sheep, mentally doing the alphabet backwards and counting backwards from a hundred in Arabic. His color slowly coming back to normal he mentally congratulated himself on taking this so well. Or at least he was till she grabbed his wrists and set his hands on her rear, holding them there firmly. "ASIA!" 

"I'm not deaf, no need to yell." Asia said, biting back her laughter as his face went bright red again. "And don't worry, we're doing this step by step so you can handle it. By the time I'm done you might be able to do this with a girl you're actually interested in without going as red as a tomato. Wouldn't that be nice?" 

"Yes but you put my hands on your..rear." Quatre said as he tried to slide his hands away. 

"As much as I don't mind having my butt felt up...Quatre just leave your hands there okay?" Asia said with a laugh when his hands ceased all movement. "Now look, it has to look real okay? When it's time I'll lean forward and kiss you, all you have to do is keep your hands where they are, your color down and to enjoy. I'm told I'm a pretty good kisser and men don't complain when I bite which I wont be doing anyway." 

"Bite?" Quatre said slowly then shaking his head decided not to ask. He likely didn't want to know. Trying his best not to think about it he tried to think of something that was safe. For that matter when they were going to have to put on this thing since with his hands where they were he couldn't check his watch. "When is she coming?" 

) 

"In a few minutes or so if Duo does his job." Asia said thoughtfully, wrapping her arms around his neck in preparation. "It's funny but I've never thought of you this way or imagined this would ever happen. Then again I guess you're too much like a brother...I hope that doesn't effect my acting abilities. I have to look like I'm enjoying it too." Asia said with a concerned look on her face having not really thought about that before. "Damn." 

"Nice to know kissing me will be such a trial." Quatre said dryly, slightly insulted though he really shouldn't be. After all plenty of women found him attractive, the fact that his assistant and friend didn't should have been a relief. 

"Well not a trial persa but I don't know how good at it you'd be. I mean normal, Romeo type kissing ya but we need to produce heat here in order to make this thing spread quickly." Asia mushed, shifting in his lap to get more comfortable, not even noticing that her skirt was riding up even more. "This is going to be tough to pull off." 

"Why don't you just accuse me of being gay while you're at it." Quatre said as he sent her a dark look. "For your information I have never had a problem getting women nor have I ever had any complaints about my moves thank you very much." 

"Well of course you haven't had any complaints to your face, Quatre. You're too nice of a guy to hurt that way. I mean telling you something like that would be equal to kicking a puppy or stealing candy from a baby." Asia said as she patted him on the shoulder while he looked at her with insult and anger plainly written on his face. "But you know, come to think of it, it would be funny if your stalker was a guy. Can you imagine what that would be like?" 

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack here?" Quatre demanded to know, his ego having been bashed to dust not to mention he was having a hard time not noticing the state of her skirt. He'd mention it but odds were she was doing it on purpose for added effect. Was he the only one freaked out about doing this? She made it seem like this was something they did every day! He'd never thought about Asia this way before. He'd never wanted to think about Asia this way before. Damn it all to hell but someone up there really hated him. Seriously hated him. 

"Nope, a heart attack would not be a good thing. That's not the kind of mouth to mouth activity I had planned." Asia said cheekily, thinking that this was turning out to be a lot of fun. Then again she liked playing with her boss. He was so cute and adorable when he was flustered. "Okay now time for the performance to begin. It would look too staged if we waited for the knock." Asia explained as he opened his mouth to comment. Wrapping her arms firmly around his neck Asia leaned forward, her sparkling ocean blue eyes meeting his sky blue for a moment of silent laughter before she pressed her lips to his then did her best to devour them in a kiss designed to send off heat waves and brain melt downs. 

) 

Matilda Roth walked over to Asia's desk and looked around in puzzlement, wondering where the girl was. She'd promised to hand deliver the package Lieutenant Maxwell had given to her but she was in such a hurry she'd hoped to hand it off to Asia instead. The girl must be off on an errand or the washroom, Matilda thought with a sigh then walking over to Mr. Winner's door knocked once as she'd been told then opened the door, taking one step in then hurriedly taking that step back as she gapped at the sight in front of her. There was the perfect gentleman, the man of polite manners and shy smiles sitting in his chair with his assistant in his lap with her skirt barely covering anything. The boy's hands were digging into his assistant's butt while said assistant was plastered against him, hungrily kissing him with her arms around his neck. The boy's jacket was off to and his tie was undone, Matilda's eyes taking in every detail before she closed the door behind her, dropping the package on Asia's desk before moving at the speed of light, the greatest gossip to ever happen in Preventers in her hands. The King of Gentlemen, the prince of good manners had gotten in romantically involved with his assistant and caught making out with her in his office. It didn't get much better then that. 

) 

A minute later Asia slowly drew back, her head spinning as she slowly opened her eyes, looking into Quatre's cloudy blue eyes that look a mixture of stunned and pleasure. "See..told ya I could kiss." Asia said with a grin to hide her shock at the fact that Quatre could actually kiss too. It had surprised her when he'd kissed her, to add effect but boy had she not minded. He'd actually made her head spin a little, imagine that. "You aren't so bad either." 

"Thanks." Quatre said in a daze, his mind beginning to regain function. That had been..it had been..he didn't know what the hell that had been. 

"You're welcome." Asia said with a smirk before carefully maneuvering out of his lap. "And I think we fooled her. By the time we leave here tonight I'm sure there won't be a single person in Preventers who won't have heard about this one." 

"Now isn't that a pleasant thought." 


	3. This Is Life

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot. Everything else belongs to someone else and hope that you enjoy. 

This Is Life 

By the end of the day Asia's prediction had proved true and she and Quatre were the names on everyone's lips. Of course the stories varied from person to person as gossip tended to do but as a whole it was largely accurate. The state of Quatre and Asia's clothing was the main variable that changed depending on who was telling it and whether said teller was a guy or girl. For the most part Asia's behavior was excused as Asia behavior, it was Quatre's reputation that was getting the extreme overhaul. Men that had called him a gay, pink wearing pansy were starting to think maybe he wasn't such a girlie boy, especially if he could get past first base with someone like Asia. Though none of her past boyfriends advertised it Asia actually had strict morals when it came to how far she was willing to go with a guy and most of the guys that had bragged about scoring hadn't gotten past second base much less scored a home run. The women were also looking at Quatre differently as well. He'd been a nice, cute man before, the kind you were friends with but never really looked at as a man. Well now they were looking and wondering if his hands were skilled in more then just violin and what he would look like out of those business suits. The other pilots, for their part, played dumb to the whole thing though they were truly dumbfounded by a lot of what they heard. As it was Duo had had to excuse himself from the room twice so that he could go laugh his head off in private at some of the speculation. When Quatre and Asia left for the day they were watched like hawks which made them both jumpy and more then a little guilty looking. There were no letters, presents or anything to indicate that the stalker had learned of the events and so the next week Asia pulled a stunt in Winners Corp to see if the stalker was connected to the company. Wanting to be original and make it appear unconnected to the other event Asia simply grabbed Quatre in the elevator and proceeded to kiss the daylights out of him from the first floor up to the twenty fourth with everyone getting an eyeful every time the door opened to admit someone into the elevator while they were "too busy" to notice. Needless to say that one spread even faster and Quatre did his best to hide in his office for the whole day as a result. 

) 

Another week later everyone was meeting up at the old household where the pilots had all lived together in the beginning before they'd moved off on their own one by one. With only Wufei, Duo and Trowa still in residence it had been rather empty recently until Julian and Sue Ling had moved in that summer. Arriving a little late Quatre locked his car then walking up the steps let himself in to find the front hallway littered with shoes to indicate everyone or nearly everyone was there already. Removing his shoes and hanging up his coat Quatre wandered in and found everyone in the living room chatting away. It looked different, Quatre thought as he looked around, noticing small but homey changes that hadn't been there last month when he'd come to visit them. Not to say the house had ever been messy either but it looked cleaner somehow and yet like a real home. 

"Hey, Quatre!" Julian called out from his seat on the floor where he appeared to be reading the newspaper comics with Duo. 

"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late." Quatre said with a sheepish look as he walked over to take a seat beside Paris who was talking with Wufei about a motorcycle Wufei was apparently thinking of buying to replace his old one which was getting on it's last leg. "Something smells good." Quatre added as scents reached his nose as the door that connected the living room to the dining room was opened as Rome came through the door using her cane, the next step up from having to use the stupid wheelchair. "Hey, Rome. How are you feeling?" 

"I've been better but I'll live. Supper is almost ready and it's going to be a doozy." Rome said with a shake of her head as she made her way over to Milliardo, settling into his lap with a smile as she leaned back against him as his arms came around to hold her there. 

"Wait till you try Sue Ling's cooking, Q-man. I mean it is literally to die for. I was ready to go hand to hand with Wufei for the last piece of sausage last night." Duo said as he looked up from the comics to send Quatre a double thumbs up. "You are definitely in for a treat. It was my turn to decide what we were having so prepare yourself for the best spaghetti and meatballs you've ever had hands down. Plus the garlic bread's smothered in cheese and spices fresh from the oven and bubbling over with cheesy, garlicky goodness." Duo continued in a dreamy voice like he was talking about the latest Playboy model. 

"Sounds like heaven." Quatre agreed, his stomach agreeing as he suddenly realized he was pretty hungry after all. Then again he hadn't had a chance to more then grab a small bite to eat for lunch before he'd had a meeting that day. 

"So, Quatre, hate to spoil the mood but any letters today?" Sally wanted to know from her seat beside Wufei. 

"Actually there was one today but it was the normal stuff, no mention of any girls, least of all Asia. There was some stuff about how she'd rid me of the medusa in sheep's clothing but I think that was referring to Emily again." Quatre said with a sigh, sinking further into the comfortable couch. "So I guess this means she doesn't work in either of the offices." 

"So odds are that whoever this woman is she knows you socially or through someone close to you who doesn't gossip or hasn't known there was something to gossip about." Trowa said thoughtfully as he turned ideas around in his ever active head. "I guess the next logical step is for Asia to go with you some function where there's a lot of people and plenty of press." 

"But I've taken Asia to plenty of events with me before. That will be nothing new and I draw the line at making out with her in the middle of a party." Quatre said with a stubborn look on his face that said on this he wasn't going to budge one little bit. "My reputation is going to the dogs as it is. One of my executives' assistant hit on me today and practically attacked me on my way to my car." 

) 

"Well of course not, Sweetie." Asia said as she came out of the kitchen too, wandering over to sit in Quatre's lap which sent her boss into a tizzy so that he went bright red much to everyone's amusement. Which was of course why she'd done it in the first place. "That would be way too out of character for you. An obvious acting job. But you're wrong in thinking we can't pull it off simply by being seen together. We just have to act a little different and before ya know it everyone will be saying we're a couple and gossiping about it. Plus the paparazzi always likes to take pictures of you so they'll be watching us for sure. I mean this will be the first time you show up at a party with a real woman and not some girlie debutante trying to get your money or in the papers. Speaking of which...which assistant was this so I can claw her eyes out? I kinda have to defend my territory now and everything." 

"I resent that." Quatre said with a dark look as he sent her a you're more trouble then you're worth sometimes look. "And I'm not telling you who either. The last thing we need is a cat fight in the office." 

"The truth hurts, baby." Asia said as she kissed him playfully on the cheek then turned to grin at Paris. She'd find out who it was easily enough. "So, Paris, Rome said you talked to mom yesterday. How are things at the home?" 

"Things are good there though they're nagging for us to come and visit plus bring everyone with us." Paris said with a smirk, knowing that this assistant was in for one hell of a back off routine as soon as Asia got a hold of her. Even if this wasn't for real Asia was very particular about who she'd let near her boss saying that someone had to look out for the clueless idiot. "Apparently these guys managed to worm their way into Aunt Umi's good graces somehow." 

"Oh hey, Asia, I was wondering. I never did find out exactly how you got mixed up with these guys." Duo said from the floor as he motioned to Paris, Rome and Julian. "I know you said you were adopted so did you live at the home?" 

"Yeah I did but not as an orphan or anything. At least not exactly" Asia said with a shrug, surprised at how comfortable Quatre's lap was. Maybe she'd just stay there for a while even though he was done blushing like an idiot. Grinning up at him she noticed he was looking at her questioningly and realized he was waiting for her to expand on her explanation. "Well you see I lived there but I was sorta adopted but not. You see there was really no way to legally adopted me since no one knew who I was or who I belonged to in the first place. Plus I was fairly old so people aren't exactly looking for kids that were my age to adopt either. Umi and Daddy basically took me in and said I was their daughter even though legally I'm a ward of the state. Or I was a ward of the state." 

) 

"So you were abandoned as a child?" Sally said with a sympathetic look. She knew Duo could quite possibly say the same and lord only knows with Trowa. 

"No one knows. It was during the war and Rome and another student were being trained to fly these mobile suits. The other student's suit malfunctioned though and it crash landed into several building on the third colony. I was in one of those buildings and I was only one of eleven that were actually pulled from the wreckage alive and with all my limbs still attached. I was in really bad shape though and they had to complete reconstruct my face and stuff so there was no way to make a visual ID of who I was or plaster my face in the media. I'd also badly burned and torn up my fingers pulling myself out of the building so fingerprinting was out of the question and my D.N.A. wasn't found on any data base. The only identification I had on me was a passport with my last name barely legible and even then it could be wrong. The Oz government tried to make up for what they'd done by paying for all the medical expenses of everyone so I got top of the line care and they really did try to find someone to come get me but no one came or seemed to have any information about me. Anyway Rome had come to the hospital to see the pilot, he died by the way, and while she was there she met me since we were in the same area. When they were set to send me to a foster home she had it arranged that I be sent to her godparents, Mommy and Daddy in Italy. So I spent the rest of my recovery there and I didn't leave until I was old enough to live on my own and stuff." Asia said with a smile, surprised slightly when she realized that sometime during her explanation Quatre's arms had come up to wrap around her waist, cuddling her against him in a sorta hug. Touched Asia grinned slightly and decided to lighten the mood a bit. "As for my name, well it's obvious that Paris and Rome were both named after capital cities and Julian had suggested I do the same but unfortunately there wasn't one that appealed to me though I did almost chose Vienna. So there I was, stumped when Rome suggested maybe I should chose a country instead like China. Well that got me thinking and I decided I wanted to be better then any city or country and decided I wanted to be a continent. Thus I chose Asia since it was the only continent I liked well enough to use as a name." 

) 

"She almost settled on calling herself Korea too." Sue Ling said from the doorway as she sent one of her few friends a faint smirk. "She downloaded a list of every country in the world and went down the list crossing them off as she decided against them." 

"Well a name is an important thing ya know." Asia said as she stuck her tongue out at Sue Ling playfully. "I wanted it to suit me." 

"Well I think Asia is a cool name. I don't even want to know why my parents decided to stick me with something like Hilde. I mean whenever I think about it I think of that green witch Broom Hilda in the comics." Hilde said as she made a face. "So why did your parents name you two after cities?" Hilde added as she sent Rome and Paris a curious look. 

"Well my mother didn't really care what my name was so my father named me after our country's capital which happened to be his favorite city in the world." Rome said with a smile then smirked over at Paris. "And Paris was named Paris for two reasons. One because it was where his mom met my dad and the other because it was where he was conceived." 

"You know, speaking of your mother are you inviting her to the wedding?" Paris wanted to know, the idea just occurring to him. "I'd love the chance to rub it in her face that I have more money then her whole family put together now. Of course she'll still act like I'm the spawn of Satan but she does it so classily Plus with Relena as my date she's going to have to swallow her pride and be nice to me for the first time in our unique history together." 

"Wait a minute..your mother?" Milliardo said with a questioning look in Rome's direction. 

"Only physically. She's mother, Paris's mom was Mommy..get it?" Rome said with a look on her face similar to someone smelling something bad. "We basically send each other cards on birthdays and Christmas, that's about it. And ya, I'll likely have to invite her. She'll make my life hell if I don't and since I'm not undercover anymore she'll have an easy enough time finding me to do it. If she gets started on you, Paris you can feel free to kick her out though. I for one will help you do." 

Quiet Milliardo hadn't realized that Rome actually had a mother, admittedly a bad one from all accounts. But still a mother..still a potential mother in law. "Is she going to hate me on sight?" Milliardo wanted to know, remembering all the horror stories he'd heard about mother in laws. He wanted his wedding day to be perfect after all, especially for Rome. 

"Oh no, she'll absolutely love you." Paris said with a laugh, imagining that the stuck up old bitch would just love her future son in law. "You have lots of money, impeccable breeding and you're related to royalty. She might try to steal you from Rome. How old was your last step father, Rome?" 

"I think he was only ten years younger, then again he only lasted about six months before she finally realized I wasn't just being bitchy by telling her he was gay and just after her money. I mean he was hitting on Julian for Christ sakes." Rome said as she rolled her eyes. "Though he was pretty gorgeous." 

) 

"He hit on you?" Duo said as he looked over at Julian with laughter in his eyes. When Julian sent him a dirty look Duo grinned and patted Julian on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man. It happens to the best of us." 

"Just because I know how to dress everyone assume that means I just have to be gay." Julian said with a deep sigh. "I'm just too damn pretty. That's my problem. This is why I can't get a girl. They all think I'm gay too." 

"Well that and you're rarely without Sue Ling who intimidates any girl who's even thinking about hitting on you, Julian." Asia pointed out with a chuckle. "I mean who thinks they can compete with her? Especially when she's watching you like a hawk." 

"Yeah but I need her around to remind me to do stuff." Julian argued, perilously close to pouting. "If she's not there then who's going to remind me to eat? To go to bed and where I'm suppose to be going and what I'm suppose to be doing that day? I can't function without her for long periods of time!" 

"Boy, you really are just like his mother, aren't you?" Wufei said with a smirk in Sue Ling's direction, the girl returning the look with a similar smirk. "Don't you think it's time you learn to do these things for yourself, Julian? Then Sue Ling wouldn't have to take care of you and you could function without her." 

"But I don't want to function without her. I can't function without her. Believe me I've tried." Julian said with a deep sigh as he sent Wufei a truly pitiful look. "I couldn't survive one day without her around to tell me what to do. I even set our house on fire trying to make toast for myself. I may be a certified genius but I need someone to take care of me or my world falls into chaos within hours. It's lowering but my mind's so filled with ideas and inventions that there's no room for anything else and so all the extra stuff gets stored in Sue Ling's mind for me. It works but it plays hell on my social life. Finding a girl that isn't threatened by my dependence on Sue Ling has proven to be harder then finding my glasses every morning." 

"Well don't worry about it, buddy of mine." Duo said with a reassuring look on his face even though he couldn't imagine have imagined the situation Julian was in before he'd actually seen it for himself. Julian literally couldn't find his own head in the morning without Sue Ling there to stick it on his head. "We'll find you the perfect girl if it takes forever. We shall triumph in the end no matter who we have to take down to succeed." 

) 

"Thanks, Duo man. You're the best." Julian said as he patted Duo on the shoulder in turn. "Speaking of best...Sue Ling is dinner ready yet?" Julian asked as he shot his best friend in the world his biggest, most adorable puppy dog eyes ever. "I'm hungry." 

"Supper should be ready now if you'll all come in and take your seats." Sue Ling said as she moved to hold the door open for everyone. "I hope you all like Italian." 

"Anything you make is good." Trowa said as he walked past, completely missing the faint blush that crossed Sue Ling's cheeks at his compliment. 


	4. Do You Believe?

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plots. Anyway I hope you enjoy and I very much look forward to hearing from you. Thanks to all those who've taken the time to keep up with my fics and review too! 

Do You Believe? 

The day before the Johnsons party dawned and it had the pilots more then a little nervous. Since this was to be the party where Quatre introduced Asia as his girlfriend they were dreading this usually anticipated event. If their stalker was indeed at the party there was the possibility that she'd go at Asia then and there in a fit of rage. In other words there would be a lot of people who could get in the way or hurt. Plus it would make covering Quatre and Asia harder because there would be too many people to successfully watch over and protect without help. As a result Paris had asked Julian to create a homing device for Quatre to wear as sensitive as the one Rome had. That way if the crazy lady grabbed Quatre they'd at least know where to find him. Strolling through Preventers Julian waved at those he'd been introduced to and even those he hadn't since he was in such a good mood. He just had a feeling something great and important was going to happen and he just had this sense that nothing could go wrong today. Sue Ling, trailing behind him could only roll her eyes at this but remained silent. Cheerfully grinning away Julian's eyes casually scanned the people around him, landed on one and held there as he came to a grinding halt. 

Nearly smashing into Julian at his sudden stop Sue Ling came to an awkward halt and just barely managed not to glare at his back. "What is it?" Sue Ling demanded to know since her instincts weren't warning her of anything and Julian had no instincts to go off. There hadn't been anyone coming and he wasn't even looking in front of him anymore. 

Not answering, unable to answer really Julian pointed to the person who held his attention with a focus he rarely showed for anything that wasn't mechanical. "Her." Julian finally managed to say as he lowered his arm. 

Raising an eyebrow Sue Ling moved to Julian's side and following his gaze saw that he seemed to be looking at a young woman Trowa was talking to. She'd never seen the woman before and she wasn't wearing a uniform either to signify she was Preventers. Around Julian's age perhaps the girl had brown hair, shoulder length with a hint of curl, an appealing and fit figure shown off in black slacks and a white pheasant's shirt that wasn't expensive but suited her. She was fairly pretty but Sue Ling had seen more appealing and so had Julian without acting like this. In fact she'd never quite seen Julian like this before. Certainly never with this focus. Did he know her? Was she a threat to Trowa or Julian, Sue Ling wondered as her eyes narrowed. Trowa seemed to be relaxed and at ease, his were instincts you could trust. So what was going on? 

) 

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Julian breathed, his eyes never leaving the stunning creature talking with Trowa. Who was she? How did she know Trowa? None of it really mattered. No, nothing mattered as long as he could simply look at her. Be in the same room as her. This was fate. 

"No she isn't. For heaven sakes we were at a fashion show two days ago in a room filled with better looking women." Sue Ling said with a shake of her head as she set a hand on Julian's shoulder and shook it slightly. "Come on." 

"Sue Ling, I'm going to marry that woman." Julian said with more seriousness and determination then Sue Ling's shocked ears had ever heard pass his lips. "She's my soul mate." 

"Your soul..soul mate? You don't even know her!" Sue Ling said, her shock obvious in the fact that she'd spoken louder then was entirely necessary. Especially since she was right beside him at the moment. "And for all you know she could be a happily married woman with two kids, a dog and a nice house in the country. Julian, did you cook something while I wasn't looking and eat it? You know you aren't allowed to do that without supervision." 

"I knew the minute I saw her." Julian said with a stubborn look in his eyes as he met Sue Ling's eyes with absolute sincerity on his face. He wasn't joking and he wasn't kidding. As soon as he'd seen her he'd just known that she was the one. The one he was destined to live with for the rest of his life. The one he'd been searching for. This wasn't attraction or insanity no matter what anyone was likely to say. This was love at first sight and nothing was going to stop him from winning her heart. She was his destiny. "I love her and that's that." 

) 

"Okay..as soon as we drop that chain off to Quatre we're taking you to the hospital and you are getting a C.A.T. scan and whatever other brain tests they have." Sue Ling said as she gapped at him, completely at a loss which was a rare occurrence. "You don't even know her, you can't feel those sorts of emotions for someone you've never met!" 

"Something wrong, Sue Ling? Julian?" Duo asked as he came up to them having noticed them and come over to say hello. He'd just heard the tail end of what Sue Ling had said and now his curiosity was piqued. Now who were they talking about? 

"Duo, do you know who that woman is talking to Trowa?" Julian wanted to know, his attention shifting to Duo as he ignored Sue Ling's comment about taking him to the hospital for a head look over. All that mattered was finding out her name. 

"Hmm?" Duo said in surprise, Julian looking like he'd ask for top secret and life altering information. Following Julian's pointing Duo raised an eyebrow in even more surprise and confusion. "Catherine? That's Trowa's older sister. Why?" 

"Catherine." Julian breathed like he was talking about the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. 

"I wasn't aware that Trowa had a sister." Sue Ling said in surprise, giving the woman a considering look now. There was similarities in hair color and there was an ease between the two that she rarely saw with Trowa. 

) 

"Well they call each other brother and sister but they aren't sure about it. Well Catherine is convinced but Trowa doesn't want to know." Duo explained then seeing Julian's interest elaborated, always happy to chat. "Well you see when Catherine was little she was traveling with her parents and younger brother when there was a terrible accident and her parents were killed. Her brother's body was never found and Trowa has no real memories of his childhood outside the mercenary group that found and adopted him. Anyway Trowa and Catherine met up during the war and Catherine became convinced that Trowa was really her little brother Triton. Since then Trowa's treated her like his sister and her like he was her brother. They've never had it genetically confirmed though so there's always a possibility that she's wrong. But they love each other as siblings and that's really what's important." 

"She lost her parents when she was a child?" Julian said with such a sad look on his face it was almost heartbreaking. His poor love, to lose her parents at such an early age. They must have been truly great people to have created someone so utterly perfect. 

"Ah, yeah. Boy you really are a sucker for sad stories aren't you? I thought you tearing up over Titanic was just a fluke." Duo said with a chuckle as he set a comforting hand on Julian's shoulder. "So why did you want to know again?" 

"Because he thinks he's in love with her." Sue Ling said with a weary look on her face. "Love at first sight apparently." 

) 

"Seriously?" Duo said in a shocked voice then had to laugh when Julian nodded like it was no big deal. Apparently to him there was nothing strange about the whole thing. His friend was truly mind boggling sometimes. "Well in that case do you want me to introduce you to your future bride?" Duo wanted to know dryly while Sue Ling hissed for Duo not to encourage him. 

"No. I'm not dressed properly and everything has to be absolutely perfect for our first meeting." Julian said sounding like a general laying out a war plan for a major battle. "Now that I know who she is and that she really exists I can take my time and do it right. I wonder if I left all my Shakespeare volumes in Rome or did I bring them with me? Sue Ling?" 

"You left them there." Sue Ling said with a deep and heartfelt sigh. 

"Really? Darn. I'll have to buy them again then or I suppose I could wait and have them shipped here..hmmm. So many things to plan, so little time. There's so much about her I need to find out before I approach her. I wonder what her favorite color is. Flower? Allergic to anything? Hobbies?" Julian muttered, now in his own little world as he wandered off, his brain absently telling the feet to take him towards Quatre's office. Sue Ling, shaking her head followed behind while Duo didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the poor guy. 

) 

"We have a problem, Rome." Paris said with a sigh as he looked at Rome grimly, everyone meeting in Quatre's office at seven that night for a late night meeting. It was going to be a short meeting since Catherine had unexpectedly dropped by to see Trowa. 

"What's the problem? Have you found something out? Have you found out who's stalking me already? Who is it?" Quatre wanted to know, leaning forward in his seat eagerly. 

"No, this actually has nothing to do with any of you guys except maybe Trowa." Paris said with a shake of his head, his head pounding at the simple thought of it. Of all the girls, in all the worlds and he had to fall for Catherine. 

"Oh?" Trowa said with a raised eyebrow, his curious piqued. "How so?" 

"Well it looks like Julian has decided he's in love with your sister and nothing anyone says about it seems to penetrate his thick skull unless its information about her in which case he absorbs it like a frickin sponge." Paris said, having to smirk at the shocked looks on everyone's faces before his face went serious again. "Like I said...a problem. She'll chew him up and spit him out for sure even if she's trying to be nice about it and lets face it Catherine isn't usually the most tactful when dumping a guy. Not to mention he's liable to pump you for information at every opportunity, Trowa" 

"But I didn't even know that he knew Catherine." Trowa said as his mind wheeled at the very idea. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with Julian or that he objected to the idea. In fact he liked the guy but there was no way in hell Catherine would ever date, much less fall in love with a guy like Julian. He just wasn't Catherine's type if she even had a type. 

"He doesn't. Apparently this is a case of love at first glance. He hasn't even said a single syllable, much less a word to her." Duo said with a chuckle even though it really wasn't all that funny. "I tried to talk him out of it by telling him every bad point about Catherine I could think of. He told me if I uttered one more slanderous word against her he'd challenge me to a duel. That guy is seriously gone." 

) 

"How romantic." Asia said dreamily and had all the men in the room looking at her like she'd just told them that she was a male stripper on her off hours. "What? You might all be cynics but I believe that love at first sight is possible. I mean sure people generally get to know each other and connect before they fall in love but why can't you just know? Connect with a person straight off? And besides having known Julian as long as I have there is nothing that's going to stop him now. He'll follow her to Hell and back, die trying and all that." 

"He would too." Rome said with a groan as she dropped her head into her hands. "And it's not that I think Catherine would be bad for him, she'd be great for him actually. But there's no way in hell she'd ever want to get involved with someone like Julian. In fact come to think of it Catherine doesn't date much period does she?" 

"She doesn't let people close either." Trowa said quietly, thinking of his vibrant and spirited sister who often hid her soft heart behind a shield of fiery attitude. "I don't know why. Maybe what happened to her parents or something else. I just know that she doesn't give her love and trust easily. And no, she doesn't date." 

"But if he's serious, and I think he must be, then that won't matter. Julian, for all his childish behavior, is actually a very patient person when it comes down to it. To him love and family are everything, his greatest desire in this whole world. If he thinks she's the one then he'll still be trying to win her heart forty years from now if necessary. He won't give up till the day he dies. He's that stubborn and focused." Rome said with a sigh, seeing a sad and lonely fate for her cousin who had always been the essence of good will and cheer. "Even if she turns him down a million times, even if she says she never wants to see him again..he might do as she asks but he'll always be waiting for her..no matter what." 

) 

"Like I said...we have a problem." Paris said with a weary look on his face, wishing he could go back in time and make it so that Julian's path never crossed with Catherine's. Ever. "He finally gets over Trisha and this happens." 

"Trisha?" Relena asked with a curious look on her face. "An old girlfriend of Julian's?" 

"Long story but to sum it up we hate Trisha's guts with a passion and we're related to her through marriage." Rome said with a dark look on her face as an image of the woman came to mind and Rome cheerfully mentally shot her into Swiss cheese. How do I hate Trisha, let me count the ways, she thought absently. "But maybe we're worrying for nothing. Maybe Julian will give up once she turns him down a few times or who knows, maybe she'll accept and go out with him, get to know him." 

"And then she dumps him." Paris said with a shake of his head, already picturing it. "I'm right, aren't I, Trowa?" 

"Well who really knows." Trowa said with a shrug even though he had a bad feeling about all this. "Stranger things have happened and I can't claim to understand how my sister's mind works." 

"Who can ever understand the workings of the female mind? It's more complicated then figuring out how Trowa's hair can be like this without gel." Duo pointed out then figured it was time to get to business before a battle of the sexes broke out and people got hurt. He could see it coming. "Anyway back to the reason for the meeting?" 

) 

The next night Quatre drove up to Asia's apartment building feeling more then a touch anxious. What was she going to pull? How badly was this going look and how much political ground was it going to cost him? What if his sisters found out and descended upon him like the seven plagues of Egypt only worse since there was a hell of a lot more then seven? That would almost be as bad as having a stalker. Parking Quatre fought the urge to simply slump against his wheel in misery and instead got out of the car, locked it and headed towards the front entrance. Counting all the reasons why he should just cancel this whole thing running through his head he was at sixty seven when he finally got to her door. Knocking on it Quatre heard the door locks being undone then the door was opened slightly to check that was him before the door was opened and Asia cheerfully told him to come in, that he had perfect timing. Raising an eyebrow Quatre stepped in that turning to face Asia and gapped when he saw she was basically holding her dress up as she closed the door. 

"Thanks for coming up, now you can get this frickin zipper to work." Asia said with a beaming smile as she walked over to him and spinning around gave him a view of her bare, half unzipped back, the only thing keeping the dress up was Asia's hands. "Could you please get the stupid thing to go all the way up." 

) 

She wasn't wearing a bra was all that he could think as he gapped at her back. His ears going bright red it was only through sheer will that it didn't spread to his face. Why couldn't women's clothing have easy to reach zippers? Why did it have to get stuck before he'd gotten there? Why him, God? Why? "Sure." Quatre managed to croak out and with shaking hands tried to get it up but it really was stuck good. 

"Try pulling it down all the way then back up. That might work." Asia suggested, ever helpful and completely unaware of the fact that her words had caused his blush to spread down into his face. After all it was just Quatre, it wasn't like it was a real boyfriend or love interest. 

"Okay." Quatre said weakly, feeling sweat break out as he slowly lowered the zipper down her back, the only sound in the room, and stopping at the bottom could only gap as he was treated to the sight of the hem of her underwear. Her black, lacy underwear. OH JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH! 

"Is it stuck again?" Asia wanted to know when he didn't do anything for several moments as his eyes simply burned a whole in her lower back. "Damn and I really wanted to wear this dress. Well I guess if you can't get it I'll have to wear something else. Hmm well there is that black one with the high slits on the sides, show some leg. And here I was going for a little more of a dignified look for once." 

"Uhmmm, hold on a sec." Quatre said, finally getting his voice back, concentrating and quickly that zipper went up and all the way to the top hiding her underwear and most of her back thank God. "Got it." 

"Yay! Thanks." Asia said with a beaming smile as she spun around, kissed his cheek in thanks then raced out of the room, calling out that she was getting her shoes and then they'd go. 

) 

Needing to sit down Quatre wandered into the living room and sat down hard in one of the plush sofas. Oh man, he hadn't needed to see that. he hadn't wanted to see that. She was his assistant, his friend and occasional pain in the ass. Yes she was a woman and yes she was attractive but that didn't matter. He wasn't attracted to her, she was just a buddy, a pal. He'd seen her in a bikini for heaven sakes and hadn't even raised an eyebrow. It was the same here only that dress had covered more. There was no reason for him to be blushing and feeling like he'd been put through the ringer. Nothing had changed between them, everything was the same as before. Nothing had changed, Quatre told himself forcefully. 

"Hey, Quatre where..oh, there you are. Hey you're looking a little worn out...did you skip your vitamins again." Asia said as she put her hands on her hips as she took his flushed features. She hadn't realty gotten a good look at him till now after all. "You know you need to take them or your body isn't going to get the stuff it needs! Don't make me have to start making you eat them in front of me again." 

"I took them, I took them." Quatre said with a quit nagging me look on his face though he was relieved that she hadn't hit upon the real reason. "It's just a little too warm in here with my coat on." Quatre said quickly, grabbing for any excuse. 

"Uhmm..then why didn't you just take it off till we got downstairs?" Asia wanted to know as she sent him a curious look. 

"Well you were just going to get your shoes." Quatre said with a shrug before getting to his feet. "So shall we go?" 

"Yup! Lets go." Asia said with a thumbs up before taking Quatre's hand in hers with a grin as she looked up at him. "Lead the way, Prince Charming." 


	5. Poor, Poor Quatre

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot lines expressed here and in my other fics. What I own I copyright so if there's something you want to use ASK first please. Anyways I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and please review because I'd really love to hear from you. 

Poor, Poor Quatre 

On the way to the party Quatre did his best to get a hold of himself and thought he was doing a pretty good job of keeping their conversation casual and friendly. What had happened at the apartment had just been a lapse, a never to be repeated again occurrence that was to be forgotten and never thought about much less mentioned. Easier said then done, Quatre thought darkly as he kept his eyes on the road, giving it a lot more attention then was entirely necessary. Why did he have to see her like that? Why? He didn't want to see her like that. He couldn't handle seeing her like that. Thinking of her like that. Now every time he looked at her he was going to remember this and suffer he was sure. Sometimes he really thought they'd hit it on the nail when they said nice guys always got it the worst when it came to the female species. 

"So anyway about this whole party thing, Quatre." Asia began once he'd stopped talking about what needed to be done on Monday for a conference they were attending with several other large corporations. "I was thinking and you'll be glad to know that I figure if we just stay glued to each other's sides and I don't dance with other guys that should be enough for everyone to clue in." 

"That sounds like a great idea. Perfect." Quatre said with a nod, the darkness of the car hiding the relief that appeared in his eyes. No public displays, no major body contact, nothing to worry about. 

"Well you don't have to sound so relieved." Asia said with a chuckle as she playfully punched him lightly in the arm. "You make it seem like I've been putting you through hell with the other gossip inducing stunts." 

) 

Quatre thought briefly about confirming that statement then quickly ditched the idea since she was either bound to be hurt or launch an inquisition as to why he felt that way. Or worse..both. "No but I do have to work with these people and it was hard enough to gain their respect and trust to begin with given my age and inexperience." Quatre said instead, hoping that she'd leave it at there. 

"Ha, you mean they just didn't want anyone in politics that would actually show them up by following through on your promises and earning your salary." Asia said getting all fired up at the presentation of an opening to one of her favorite topics. Why all but a select few politicians should be taken out into the street and shot argument. "After all you'd make them look bad by showing the world what a real politician is supposed to do instead of laying around on his increasingly fatter ass getting rich off of other people who actually need the money. Lawyers look good in comparison to politicians most of the time. Ambulance chasing lawyers at that." Asia said with a fiery look in her eyes. "Old ladies in wheelchairs move faster then politicians when it comes to taking action. Old ladies in broken down, horribly out of date wheelchairs! With the old ladies blind, deaf and completely senile! Nothing bogs down a situation and makes it worse then involving politicians in the process. Except you and a select few of course." Asia said as she noticed the downcasted and almost depressed look on her boss's face. Concerned Asia leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder as she went about majorly sucking up since she'd hurt poor Quatre's feelings. "Of course I don't mean you. You're ten times the politician of anyone that's going to be at this stupid party. You do ten times as much good too and a lot of people are better off because of you. I'm really proud to be your assistant you know and I tell everyone that there's no one better for the job then you. You're the best guy ever and your ass isn't fat and you're a lot faster then an old lady in a wheelchair." Asia added to put a little humor in the situation. 

) 

"Thanks so much." Quatre said dryly, letting her assume his foul mood was because of the familiar politician rant instead of the fact that he'd see her in her underwear or lack there of. "And since you're supposed to be my girl try to keep the I hate nearly every politician in the world speeches to a minimum okay" 

"Okay but if any of the reporters ask me what I think of Senator Klaus's new bill I'm giving said reporters an earful about how stupid and incompetent he is." Asia said with a happy sigh that she was forgiven as she appreciated the lack of cologne on his skin. He just smelled like Quatre and that was the way she liked it, Asia thought as she nuzzled her face against the material of his soft coat. Quatre was only ever himself, he never wore masks...well when he had to pretend for others but that was for their benefit, not for his. 

"Okay but said rant can't be more then a couple of minutes of Senator Klaus will be gunning for my upcoming bills." Quatre said with a shake of his head as he watched her snuggle against him out of the corner of his eye. Like a cat, Quatre thought with an affectionate smile. 

"Well if he does that I'll just threaten to tell all the reporters that he's gay." Asia said with a chuckle, pleased at the idea. She was all for gay rights but Klaus really got her hair in a knot and if he caused trouble for Quatre...well then she definitely had something to say about it. "You can bet your fine ass he'll support you then." 

) 

"WHAT" Quatre demanded to know, coming to a stop at a set of lights with more force on the brake then was entirely necessary. 

"Well he is." Asia said with a snicker. 

"He has a wife and three kids" 

"So? Do you really think he'd have gotten into office without that wife and three kids? People don't elect gay representatives, Boss man." Asia said as she let him go to settle back in her seat, grinning at him as he gapped at her. He was really so innocent about some things. "What? You know who's going to vote for or against bills, I know who's cheating on their wife and bribing their way to more votes. We both have our strengths." 

"I can't believe this." Quatre said as he shook his head, not sure he could take any more shocks at the moment. He'd never, in all his meetings with the senator thought for one minute that he was... "Are you sure" 

"Oh ya. Next time you're at a meeting with him while Milliardo is in the room watch Klaus, he practically salivates every time Milliardo blinks." Asia said with a chuckle that turned into full blown laughter at the look on Quatre's face. "What? Milliardo is pretty gorgeous in an ice king sort of way. You can't really blame Klaus for looking...oh and the light's green." 

) 

"Dear God." Quatre thought as he shook himself back to attention, heading off in the right direction while he tried to put the pieces together in a way that his poor, battered system could handle. Now that she mentioned it he could recall Paris saying something about Klaus looking at him funny one day while Paris had acted as Relena's bodyguard for some meetings. Dear God, Quatre thought before an even worse idea came to him. "He doesn't...check me out..does he" Quatre asked with a down right scared look on his face. There was no way he was going to be able to work with Klaus if he kept wondering if the guy was gonna hit on him. He had nothing against being gay and had in fact supported more then a few bills for gay rights but he was straight and had no idea how to handle being hit on by a guy. 

"Nope though Senator Roth's wife has an eye on you." Asia said with a pat on Quatre's shoulder thinking that he probably needed it about now. "That's why she keeps finding reasons to bend over whenever you're in line of vision." 

"What? I just thought she'd gotten clumsy and maybe needed glasses or something." Quatre said in horror as he sent Asia a why me look. She was married and even though she wasn't old enough to be his mother it had to be pretty close to it. "How do you know these things" 

"Good politicians always have their ears and eyes open. You're always too busy to do it so I do it for you." Asia said with a shrug before a decidedly devilish look came into her eyes. "Would you like to know where Senator Marchson really was last month when she said she was taking a golfing vacation" 

"NO" 

) 

Later at the party Asia stood off in the background while she watched for Quatre who'd gone to get them some punch ten minutes ago. Likely got waylaid by someone or several people and being the too polite for his own good guy that he was he'd let them instead of politely excusing himself. Shaking her head Asia had to smile as she rocked back and forth on her heels, content to wait. 

"Asia, darling" Came a cultured and slightly high voice that had Asia turning to see Senator Roth's wife making her way to her in a dress that was a little too short and tight for someone of Mrs. Roth's age. Asia knew the woman was between thirty five and forty but the woman seemed determined to dress like someone nearly half her age and the dress simply wasn't meant for someone who had Mrs. Roth's sort of figure. In other words it was the sheer will off gravity that was keeping the woman's bust from popping out of the low cut top. 

"Marie." Asia said with a cheerful smile, accepting the woman's cheek kiss with barely restrained dread. The woman really did wear too much perfume and it was just too flowery. "To what do I owe the pleasure" Asia said as she pulled away. "You're admirers must be missing you." 

"Well one must make time for girl talk." Marie said with a charming smile though her eyes were calculating. Senator Winner had barely left the side of his disgrace for an assistant so far and she had every intention of finding out why. "Speaking of talking everyone's been commenting on how Senator Winner has been glued to your side most of tonight. Or you glued to his" Marie added with a hint of cattiness. "I must say that there's quite a bit of speculation about it, you know how these people live for gossip of the scandalous kind." 

"Well what can I say, we've become rather glued to each other." Asia said as she made her lips curve into a cat that got the cream smile. So she'd come to have a little cat fight, how interesting. Fun too. "And intend to stay that way." 

) 

"Really. Is that so" Marie said sweetly though her eyes narrowed at the implications. So the little tramp thought she was going to dig her claws into Quatre did she? Over her dead body. She had plans for the sexy senator and they certainly didn't include this little no class urchin. "Well I wouldn't think he was really your type, dear." Marie purred, her silent message that she thought Asia wasn't Quatre's coming through loud and clear. "After all you're backgrounds and lifestyles are very different." 

In other words he was big man on campus and she was trash, Asia thought darkly, getting the message loud and clear. Well now it was getting personal. "Well I suppose he really isn't my type to be honest but once he got me into bed my whole outlook on him changed." Asia said, biting back a satisfied grin when Marie choked on her wine. No one got away with insulting her and this was as good a time as any to make sure that the lovely Mrs. Roth kept her claws away from Quatre. Who said she couldn't have fun doing it? Besides, maybe this would help her boss's sex life or lack there of. "I mean the man is a sexual god and that is definitely worth looking over a few faults here and there. Am I right? The things that man can do with his hands alone, I couldn't begin to describe." Asia continued, making a show of fanning herself with her right hand. "You can see why I've kept him close, wouldn't want anyone trying to trespass on my territory. After all there are plenty of middle aged, cosmetic surgery addicted bimbos out there who might be deluded into thinking they could even stand a chance." Asia added sweetly, her message clear and received. Take that you upper class bitch. 

"Well I..." Marie stuttered, not sure what to say. Slowly seeing red though Marie looked at Asia with eyes that said she really, really wanted to hurt the younger woman and was only holding back that urge by mere threads. "Well I suppose it was only a matter of time before Senator Winner fell for your...charms." Translation, you're a whore and he's only with you to sleep with you. 

"Yeah, thankfully I've never had to have any of them..enhanced yet." Asia said with a cool look as she looked at Marie's bust pointedly. "Anyway I should go looking for Quatre, remind him of our..other plans for this evening. Anticipation and all that." 

) 

"Uhm...right here." Quatre said in a slightly rough and hoarse voice from in front of them. He'd only caught the tail end of this conversation but he'd got enough to understand that Asia had basically accused Mrs. Roth of having her breasts cosmetically enhanced. And what other plans? Were they doing something tonight that he'd forgotten about? 

"Well then, you'll excuse us. Mrs. Roth." Asia said as she moved over to take her punch from his one hand then latched onto Quatre arm dragged him off before the bitch had time to comment. Once they were at a safe distance she slowed and took a sip of her punch before beaming up at him. "So you didn't get swallowed by the masses, I'd begun to worry." 

"Why were you talking to Mrs. Roth like that" Quatre wanted to know, his face saying plainly that he wasn't pleased. "There's a difference between letting her know I'm taken and being down right cruel to her." 

"You say that only because you didn't hear how she was talking to me before you came over." Asia said with a pout, looking at him with a hurt expression on her face. "I was only giving her back what she was dishing out, promise." 

"Okay...but still." Quatre said as he looked at her then had to roll his eyes at the way she was leveling a thoroughly adorable puppy eyes at him. "Okay, okay, you're forgiven so stop it." Quatre said as he smiled at her in amusement and what am I supposed to do with you. "So what were you two talking about that led to the hurling of catty insults" 

) 

"Well I told you she had the hots for you, she was just trying to make it clear she wanted me out of the picture. I got her good with imagery though so it's fair to say she didn't even get one good insult in if you were to compare. She'll be imagining just how great you are in bed for weeks now and agonizing over the fact that I'm getting it and she's stuck with that over weight smoker of hers." Asia said with evil glee at the idea. "You should have seen her face when I called you a sexual god, I swear it was priceless" 

"Sexual...god" Quatre said weakly as he looked at her in horror, his mind processing the implications of what she had just said. "I'm going to the bar for a drink." Quatre said slowly, absently setting his punch down on a table. "Lots of drinks." Quatre muttered as he began to make his way towards the bar, a dazed look on his face with Asia close behind to make sure he didn't accidentally hurt himself before he regained his usual pose. 

) 

The next week was busy with the rumors about Senator Winner and his assistant running wild. The news papers somehow ferreting out the other stunts Asia had pulled there were now rumors of the most hot and scandalous type circulating everywhere. 

"You know, Quatre." Duo began as they walked into Preventers with the other guys after a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant. "You really shouldn't take all this press to heart. I mean really, as soon as the next big story hits it will all blow over and be forgotten." 

"You haven't spent over ten hours talking to various sisters who are all believing everything they read." Quatre said with a dark look in Duo's direction. In the past week the pissed off look had become quite a natural look for the normally cheerful guy. "They're convinced I'm suffer after effects of the war and need therapy." 

"Give them time to adjust, Quatre." Trowa said as he patted his best friend on the shoulder. "They'll get use to the idea of you having a sex life eventually." 

) 

"Funny, Trowa. So funny I forgot to laugh." Quatre said dryly though there was a hint of a smile there as well. It had been really weird to listen to his sisters beat around the bush when they were asking about his relationship with Asia and just how involved they were. After the tenth sister it had almost become sorta funny. "But I can definitely say I'm throwing a party when this whole mess is over. Speaking of messes how are things with Julian" Quatre wanted to know, changing the topic away from him smoothly. It seemed like everyone he knew was talking about him. 

"Well he's still convinced that she's his soul mate and he's still gathering information." Paris said with a shake of his head, a rueful look on his face as he thought of the mess Julian had gotten himself into. He wasn't sure how it was going to end but he couldn't see it ending well. "Since she's leaving tomorrow I get the feeling he's going to maybe try to talk to her at least once before she goes." 

"I'd pay to see that." Duo said with a chuckle. "I only hope one of us is there to pick up the pieces after she crushes his little heart under those heels of hers." 

"Well he's going to have to meet her tonight since she's coming to the house for dinner remember." Wufei pointed out, not surprised in the least that Duo hadn't clued in to the significance of having the good bye dinner at the house. "Sue Ling is cooking his favorite just to make sure he doesn't eat and run." 

"Hey, Quatre..wanna come for dinner tonight" Duo said with a smirk as he looked over at Quatre with a chuckle. "It's dinner and a show apparently." 


	6. Tasty Little Morsel

Disclaimer: As always I hope you enjoy and copyright all aspects of this fic that belong to me which is really a no brainer. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed over the years and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter as well. 

Tasty Little Morsel 

Since everyone wanted to see Julian's first meeting with Catherine everyone came to the house early and eagerly awaited Trowa and Catherine's arrival since he'd gone to pick her up from her hotel on the way home from work. All eyes were trying to pretend not to be on Julian who sat quietly in a chair, deep in meditative thought. In other words he was actually quiet and still, not a regular occurrence at all. When the guest of honor finally arrived everyone waited with baited breath for the big moment as Trowa made the introductions. 

"And, Catherine..this is Julian McMaster. Julian, my sister Catherine Bloom." Trowa said carefully, not really sure what to expect. All he could do was pray for no bloodshed, he didn't figure he could ask for much more. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss. Bloom. Everyone's been singing your praise and I was very much looking forward to meeting you." Julian said casually as he got up from his seat, taking her hand to shake it. "I understand you and I share a passion for dream making." 

) 

"Dream making?" Catherine repeated, obviously surprised and unsure about his wording. "How so?" 

"Well you run a business that's all about dreams, magic and the wonder of feeling like a child again. I created video games in the hopes of doing the same thing. There's nothing more satisfying then making someone smile and have fun." Julian said with his usual, you just gotta love me cause I'm such a great guy smile. He'd planned this out and so far it was going okay. Mental knock on wood. 

"That's a lovely way of putting it. I'll have to remember that for future marketing." Catherine said with a smile, thinking that Heero and Noin had a very nice cousin. Best of all he wasn't hitting on her or even looking her over. He really did look a lot like Noin too though in a more masculine way. 

"Well I hope we can be good friends. Since Trowa's mentioned your family circus I've been wanting to see it, it sounds so great. Would you tell me a bit about it? Trowa doesn't talk all that much and I've had to pry what little I know out of him." 

"Don't I know it." Catherine said with a laugh and before she knew it she was joining Julian on the couch and they were talking all about the love of her life. Her circus. By the end of the evening she felt like she'd known the guy forever and when they said good bye she'd somehow ended up giving him her phone number and promising him a tour of the circus when he could get away from work long enough to see it. 

) 

"That Julian is quite the interesting guy. He's nothing like Heero or Noin." Catherine said the next day when Trowa was driving her to the airport for her flight back to her beloved circus. "His sense of humor is even weirder then Duo's and I didn't think that was possible." 

"Yeah, you two got along pretty well." Trowa agreed. Much to the amazement of everyone else. Instead of being the stuttering, mindless idiot they'd all been expecting Julian had been surprisingly in control and cool about the whole thing. The man hadn't even vaguely attempted to hit on Catherine, hadn't asked her out and hadn't screwed up. In other words their expected entertainment had been denied them. 

"And he actually knows a lot about the business, Trowa. You must have really sparked his interest to have him look up all that information." Catherine said with a smile as she leaned back in her seat, happy to be alone with her brother even if he talked less then a tree usually. It was nice just to be with him and know he wasn't off somewhere risking his neck in yet another attempt to foil someone trying to take over the world. 

"Well Julian..is Julian." Trowa said with a shrug, not knowing how else to put it. If Julian did continue to find ways to meet up with Catherine then he was bound to show her his wacky, love crazy side sooner or later. Then they'd see how things went. 

) 

"Well he said that when he gets the chance he wants to bring his nieces and nephew to the circus. It's a brave man that's willing to take on three kids under the age of ten by himself." Catherine said with a shake of her head, a smile on her face. "One is tough enough even if he will have Sue Ling with him. He seems to really like kids though. He said that he wants around half a dozen if it's okay with his future wife. I said she'd likely appreciate it if he cut it down to four or five. Can you imagine having that many children?" 

"Can't say that I can." Trowa had to agree, especially since he couldn't picture himself married, much less a father. He was pretty sure he'd prefer the role of uncle as oppose to father. 

"Well you'd make a great Daddy, Trowa." Catherine said knowingly, slinging an arm over her little brother's shoulder. "And speaking of Sue Ling...she's living with you right?" 

"Yes." Trowa agreed cautiously, not liking her tone of voice at all. Or the way she'd worded it to sound like Sue Ling had moved in with him personally instead of just the house he happened to live in. 

"She seems like a nice person. Great cook anyway." Catherine said as she smile at Trowa innocently. She'd already gotten plenty of dirt about Sue Ling from Julian but now she wanted to hear it again in her brother's words. 

"She is." 

"So found yourself a girlfriend yet?" Catherine asked, just to try and throw him off balance though it wasn't likely to work. Her brother had practically invented the art of staying cool and unruffled under pressure. 

"No." 

"Have I told you lately that trees talk more then you do?" 

"Yes." 

"Okay, just checking." 

) 

"Hey, Asia. Just thought you'd want to know that you are officially hated by every political wife with a daughter or female relative around our age as of today. Mrs. Roth and her fellow cougars are also out for your blood." Relena said with a sympathetic look as she patted Asia's shoulder. "You have my sympathies." 

"Why did you just call Mrs.Roth a cougar?" Quatre wanted to know with a confused look on his face. Bent over on Asia's other side while he signed some papers he was confused by the comment. Mrs.Roth definitely wasn't a cat after all. That would be insulting to felines everywhere. "Was that the mascot at one of her schools or something?" 

"Don't you just love him?" Asia said with a chuckle as she pulled him over for a playful kiss on the cheek. "No, Relena wasn't referring to a mascot. Middle aged women who have a taste for younger men are called cougars. Since Mrs.Roth wants to nibble her ways up your extremities she's a definite cougar." 

"ASIA!" Quatre yelped, his face going bright red at Asia's remark while Relena and Asia had a good laugh at his expense. 

"See, what did I tell you? You just got to love him." Asia said with a delighted laugh, kissing his cheek again. "And what? It's a compliment..sort of." 

) 

"And one that I don't want visual images of." Quatre practically growled at her. Thank to her there were more then a couple of politicians he was having a hard time looking in the eye anymore. As it was Mrs.Roth scared the hell out of him now. "Is there anything I need to know before I go back to my desk where there's a foreign substance called sanity in the air?" 

"Well here in Insanity City your stunningly sexy assistant is reminding you that we have a lunch date today at one at Mario's that you won't be skipping out on under penalty of death by tickling." Asia said with a chuckle at the not funny look on his face. "Oh and you have a meeting at three with Roberts and another at four thirty with Senator Roth to quickly go over a change he wants to make in one of your proposals." Asia added in a sing song voice. "A meeting I can attend if you want the back up." 

"I think I can handle it." Quatre said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Give me a heads up when it's twelve, will you, Asia? I'm up to my head in paperwork and I don't think I'll have any sense of time once I dive in and start fighting to tread above it all." 

"Well if you start to sink I know CPR." Asia said with a thumbs up, pleased at the nice opening he'd given her. "And ya, I'll give you the heads up, cupcake." 

"Cupcake?" Quatre said as he stopped in the process of neatly stacking the papers he'd signed on Asia's desk. "Did you just call me cupcake?" 

"Well we are dating, honey bunch. Cute nicknames are a must." Asia said as she threw her arms around his neck with a cheerful grin on her face. "You can call me whatever you want, sugar." Asia added with a seductive purr to her voice. 

"Okay, psycho." Quatre replied, untangling himself before heading towards his office, stopping only to send Relena a long suffering look. "See if you can talk her out of this nickname business, would you, Relena? She never listens to me about anything anymore." 

"Sure I listen, sweet cheeks. I just don't do what you tell me." Asia called out after him and was rewarded with the slamming of his door, harder then was necessary. "He is just too easy." Asia with a chuckle before picking up the signed papers and removing three of them held them out to Relena. "Here's the papers you wanted." 

) 

"Thanks, time for me to go back to work then unfortunately." Relena said with a chuckle, taking the papers from Asia. "You know you're either going to keep him young or drive him into an early grave." 

"Thanks, I try." Asia said with a wink and a wave good bye before going back to her paperwork which was considerable as well. When twelve rolled around Asia saved her work on her computer then getting to her feet headed over to Quatre's door and knocked. Knocking three more times without response Asia started to get concerned and opened the door, sliding in before closing it behind her. Muffling a scream when she saw him slumped in his seat Asia ran over and reached out for a pulse, surprised to find it strong and steady. He was sleeping, Asia realized with a great sigh of relief. The little idiot had likely stayed up late again doing too much or adding more to his already overflowing plate. This whole stalker thing had gotten her jumpy, Asia thought, shaking her head at herself. Now who was acting like an idiot? Blowing it out of proportion like that. Quatre had fallen asleep at his desk plenty of times and she should know since she'd found him doing it enough over the years. Watching him sleep Asia was reminded of the cherubs you found all the time in biblical paintings and not so biblical, Asia thought with a smile. He looked so cute and innocent with his mussed blonde hair, almost angelic face. Stroking his head for a minute as she smoothed it Asia grinned and leaned down to place a final kiss on his cheek as she moved her lips over to brush against his ear. "Time to wake up, Angel Boy." 

Only vaguely aware of what was going on Quatre smiled in his sleep, happy to be asleep with no wish of waking up anytime soon. Dreaming was nice, Asia couldn't embarrass him in his dreams. She couldn't even be in his dreams unless he wanted her to be. There were no cougars on the prowl in his dreams either and he didn't have to worry about his sisters, his stalker or anything at all. 

) 

"Someone's being a stubborn little sleeping angel, isn't he?" Asia said with a chuckle when not even shaking his shoulders got a response. But he was awake enough to know she was there and speaking to him because he was muttering and shifted away from her. This little pilot didn't want to open his eyes and get up, Asia thought with an affectionate smile on her face. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." Leaning forward so that she was talking normally into his ear Asia gave him her ultimatum. "Quatre, wake up now or I'm going to tell everyone within hearing distance that you like S and M games." When there was no response to the threat Asia frowned. "Do you even know what that means? Dear God...boy am I gonna have to educate you once you wake up. Okay...if you don't wake up I'm going to come to work dressed up as a Playboy Bunny and say it was at your request. Please tell me you know what a Playboy Bunny is." 

"You'd look cute with ears and a fluffy tail." Quatre muttered, his eyes still closed though he was awake enough to understand he'd fallen asleep at his desk and wanted to go back to said sleeping. 

"Well that goes without saying. It's like ten after twelve now and we need to be out of here and a half an hour to make reservations. Do you want to go back to sleep and I wake you up again in twenty? Give you ten minutes to pull yourself together?" 

"Yes please, Bunny." Was his sleepy response. 

"Sure thing, Daffy." Asia said with a chuckle and headed out to let her sleeping boss sleep for another twenty minutes and could only hope he'd wake up easy this time. 

When he was sure that she was gone Quatre lifted his head then rubbing sleep from his eyes picked up the phone to call Paris. "Hey, Paris, I've got a question for you that's likely going to be embarrassing and humiliate me only a little less then Asia will likely do shortly. In the hopes of avoiding that...what are S and M games?" 

) 

"Thank you." Asia said nearly an hour later as the waiter set her main course in front of her. She'd worked up an appetite and the chicken salad looked yummy to the extreme. Normally she'd have ordered more but she was trying to cut back since Halloween was on it's way and she always ate way too much candy and junk food then. 

"It looks delicious." Quatre agreed as he thanked the waiter before going to work cutting up the steak he knew Asia would snitch pieces of just like he would snitch some of her salad. It was just a given with them since she'd talk him into it then offer him some of her salad to compensate. It worked for them. "So anyway...would you have really come to work in a Bunny costume?" 

"A Playboy Bunny, Quatre. There's a big difference." Asia said with a laugh as she shook her head at him, taking a sip of her water. "And as tempting as it would be it's too cold outside to go around in fishnet stockings. Even to humiliate you." 

"Thanks for that." Quatre said with a roll of his eyes. "You're too good to me." 

"And don't I know it." Asia said as she speared a piece of chicken and was about to put it in her mouth when she heard someone call out her name. Looking over Asia raised an eyebrow when she saw that it was Marco, the waiter usually assigned to them when they ate here. He'd been on break when they'd arrived. "Hey, Marco. What's up?" 

"Don't eat that." Marco said with a huff as he approached them at a near sprint. "It might have rosemary in it." 

"Rosemary? But why would..they've never tried to put it in before and you know..that I'm allergic...to it." Asia said slowly, her eyes looking over at Quatre with an Oh my God look as her fork clattered onto her plate. For some reason the herb always caused a violent reaction and if she consumed enough of it, especially without knowing it she could very well die. And in a salad..she would have never realized. 

) 

"Yes I know. When I got off my break I heard you two were here and went over to see if I could help the waiter assigned to you and saw there was a note on the side bar saying someone had requested rosemary in the salad. I knew you were allergic and thought that perhaps Mr. Winner had ordered it but you're the one who usually does and if he'd ordered it he wouldn't have asked for rosemary because then you couldn't have any." Marco huffed out having moved like lightening to get here quickly. "Someone must have asked for it and it got written down on the wrong order. I am so very, very sorry, Miss. Asia." 

"It's not your fault...it's okay. If you'd been the waiter you'd have caught on right away anyway." Asia said as she pushed the plate away from her. Forcing on a smile she reached over to pat Marco on the shoulder. "But I'm gonna have to send this back to the kitchen, no offense." Asia said in a serious voice, ruined with a wink. 

"Of course. I'll oversee your salad personally and I'll find out who made this grievous error and give them what's for." Marco said with a grateful look, obviously thankful that they weren't going to sue or make a scene about it. But that was Miss. Asia for you, a real gem among ladies. She and Mr. Winner had been coming here for over a year now and they were his favorite couple to serve. 

"If you find out the error, Marco...could you let me know?" Quatre asked quietly, taking out a business card and handing it to the waiter, trusting Marco without question. "I've been getting some threatening letters and it's possible this wasn't an accident. I know I can trust you not to say anything about it though. I don't want the press knowing." 

) 

"I will take it to the grave, Mr. Winner." Marco said smartly, bowing formally before taking Asia's salad and heading back to the kitchen. And he would too for Mr. Winner and Miss Asia. The idea that anyone would try to hurt either of them was an outrage and he would certainly see to it that any help he could give them was given. They were his best tippers and were always very nice to him after all. A few hours later he called Mr. Winner's office to inform Miss Asia that a young woman had intercepted the waiter assigned to the couple's table to tell him that she'd overheard Asia berating herself for forgetting to tell the waiter to put rosemary on the salad. Being the helpful person that she was she'd thought to tell him in case it was still possible to add the ingredient. 


	7. Quatre's New Roommate

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and plot lines featured in my various fics posted here. Thank you to all those who have reviewed any of my fics and I hope that you enjoy this latest chapter. 

Quatre's New Roommate 

"No way! No way in Hell, Asia! What part of no do you not understand?" Quatre raged, a vein in his forehead pulsing in strain. "It's final and you're going to, for the first time in your life, listen to me God damn it." 

"No I'm not." Asia said as she stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, always hating to be yelled at, especially by Quatre. "You can't throw all our hard work out the window just because of one little incident of which I suffered no ill effects as you'll recall. We don't even know for sure that your stalker was the one who told the waiter to put the rosemary in the salad and even if she was the plan still failed and I'm fine!." 

"Speaking of which we tried to get the waiter in question to work with a sketch artist but it was rush hour and the waiter says he can't even recall her face, only that she had dark coloring and an okay figure." Paris spoke up dryly, always finding it interesting to see Quatre blow a gasket since the guy did it so rarely. He'd have less stress if he did it more often which was just one more reason why Asia was a good influence. 

"Which means it could be anyone." Quatre said darkly, not about to back out on this. Not while he was still alive and breathing. There might be more of them but he could be just as mean as any of them if he really needed to be. Okay, maybe not as mean as Paris or Trowa but close enough. "And I don't care what the rest of you think, okay? Asia isn't going to pretend to be my girlfriend anymore. I'm not willing to risk it. And you would have had those ill effects if you'd eaten the damn salad so don't give me that, Asia. The only thing that stopped that was a good waiter's memory and blind, stupid luck!" 

) 

"And like I've been saying for the last hour it's my neck to risk God damn it." Asia said with her hands on her hips, standing in front of Quatre with a fierce look on her elvish face. With a bit more height she would have been nose to nose with him and the other guys in the room were watching the show with interest. "Look if it was your stalker then she's a crazy, murdering psycho and that means that there's no way I'm backing off and giving her a clear route to you. If she wants a piece of you then she's damn well gonna have to do it over my dead body and I do mean that literally. I won't let you dump me so forget about it and if you try I'll make your life a real living hell. Everything that I've done up till now will seem like child's play. You know I can!" 

"Of course I know it. You tell me often enough when you aren't getting your way just how much worse you could be!" Quatre raged, forgetting about their audience as he set his hands on her shoulders and shook them none too gently. "This woman is trying to kill you, Asia, odds are she doesn't care what kind of death it is. She might even try to make it a slow and painful one for that matter since her try failed miserably. Is that what you want? Do you want to end in several pieces in some trash can on the east side?" 

"No but I'd rather face her head on then have her come at me from behind, Quatre. The way her mind works odds are she's gonna want me dead either way just for having been your girlfriend." Asia shot back, the only thing keeping a slight leash on her anger was the knowledge that he was doing this for in a misguided attempt to protect her. "Besides together we can cover each other's back and I'm much more capable of taking care of myself then a lot of the other women in your life. Heck I'm likely the only woman you've ever gone out with that could even remotely take care of herself." 

"I can fire you, you know that don't you?" Quatre said as he poked her in the shoulder, not overly surprised when she just poked him back only harder. "I am your BOSS, Asia and despite evidence to the contrary when it comes right down to it you have to do what I say or you can just quit." 

) 

"Time out please before either of you say something stupid that's going to result in bloodshed." Trowa called out though he was wise enough not to try and get between them. "Now, Quatre, I know you don't want to risk Asia's well being and of course that's perfectly understandable. We all know she means a lot to you and she knows that too and feels the same way otherwise she wouldn't be willing to risk her neck for you." 

"Let her help you, Quatre. If you don't then a lot of other women could be needlessly hurt before we catch this woman. For all we know this stalker could be mentally deteriorating that she'll go after women for simply smiling at you or go after anyone who so much as looks at you in a way she doesn't like. Hell she might try to kill us guys because we spend too much time with you in her eyes." Paris added, picking up where Trowa had left off. "Even if you break up with Asia now she'll still be in serious danger because now your stalker knows she means something to you." 

"So what you're saying is no matter what we do every woman in my life is now at risk of ending up dead because they know me." Quatre said wearily, his shoulders slumping dejectedly, all the fight going out of him. He didn't even realize Asia had herded him into a chair until he was comfortably seated with her perched on the chair's arm. 

"Well odds are that she'll leave most of them alone if she has Asia to center and fixate on. As long as Asia's there as a huge obstacle then the stalker will be more worried about removing her then on getting everyone else out of her way." Duo pointed out, being brutally honest. 

"So we keep up the charade and let the bitch try to remove me from the picture." Asia said as she slid a comforting arm over Quatre's shoulder. "And then knock her on her only average ass." 

) 

"There's still a matter of the security problem though, Asia." Paris added as he wagged a finger in her direction. 

"What security problem?" Duo wanted to know, looking over at Paris questioningly. Had his buddy found out something? 

"Her apartment. It's too easy to break into, if you know what you're doing. Since it's quite likely that Quatre's stalker is someone with connections to his social class it's more then likely she has money. Money that can pay people to do whatever she wants." Paris said with a considering look on his face. "In other words she could likely hire someone to break into the apartment and do whatever the hell she wants him to do. It's a good system but a pro would have no major problems with it." 

"Then she can move in with me." 

) 

"WHAT!" Everyone, including Asia said as they all looked over at Quatre in shock. 

"Well my security is top of the line and if she's my girlfriend then living with me wouldn't be that big a stretch." Quatre pointed out reasonably, having accepted that there was really no other choice but to accept that for the time being he was going to have to pretend Asia was his and protect her. "That way we can keep close tabs on each other, we won't have to work late at the office so much and it will upset my stalker even more, right?" 

"Move in with you...but what will Edwards say?" Asia pointed out, referring to Quatre's head butler who was a stickler for manners, protocol and tradition. He'd also have a heart attack at the idea of Quatre bringing home a girl to live with him. Not to mention that nothing got by Edwards which meant they'd never be able to fool the man into thinking they were a couple of love birds. 

"We'll just explain the whole thing to him. There's that bedroom that connects to Quatre's too." Trowa added, warming up to the idea. "She can sleep there and if they both keep their doors locked the rest of the servants will never know who slept in what bed. They'll just think it's Quatre being Quatre." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quatre demanded to know, pretty sure he'd been insulted but not exactly sure how. 

"Just that it will appear that you're like the men from the Victorian age." Wufei answered, a faint smile on his face, wondering if this was pick on Quatre day since his friend looked like he was being put through the ringer at the moment. "In those days it was common for the men and women of the upper class to have their own rooms which were usually connected to their spouses." 

"Uhmmm but what the hell would they want to do that for?" Duo said with a confused look on his face, unable to see the point to it. Had they had so much personal junk back then that they'd needed two rooms to hold it all? If that was the case then why didn't they just make the damn rooms bigger? 

) 

"It was the sensible thing to do since in those days the upper classes usually got married for social and economic reasons. Therefore since often times the spouses had some affection at the most for each other it was a matter of having your heirs which then eliminated the need to share a room." 

"Number one, I would never get involved with someone for political, social or economic reasons. Number two, I would most certainly NOT sleep in another room if I had said wife and number three would you all quit making me sound like some celibate monk before I build a Gundam and squash you all with it!" Quatre growled, his cheeks pink and his eyes were a mixture of embarrassment and agitation. 

"We know you aren't the celibate monk of the group, Q man. That's Wufei's position." Duo said with a grin in Wufei's direction. If looks could kill Duo would have jumped out the window just to end the agony. "And the whole moving in thing has my vote, I think it's a great idea." 

"Asia?" Paris inquired as he looked over at her, not really surprised when she gave a good natured shrug since she was too busy rubbing Quatre's tense shoulders and trying to cool the poor guy down to answer. "Then I guess that's what we'll do." 

) 

"You can count on me to see that nothing is left to chance, Sir." Edwards informed his employee with a decisive nod of his silver head. He was horrified to hear that someone was after his employee though his voice and face betrayed nothing. He was far too well trained. 

"Thank you Edwards. As you're the only one that's in the house twenty four seven I thought I should give you the heads up. The housekeeper and Mary are not to be informed and Asia and I will do our best to keep the facade up when in there presence. Since they're both only in here in the mornings and afternoon I don't anticipate too much trouble in that area." 

"I'll have to room next to yours made up immediately for her arrival." 

"Okay, she'll be here in two hours with her stuff and a friend of hers is going to be temporarily looking after her place. Hopefully she won't have to stay here too long before she can go home." Quatre said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He knew that after this he was going to have to start calling his sisters since they'd fire him out into space if he didn't give them a heads up about the fact that he was having a girl move in with him. As it was he couldn't tell them it was all pretend so he predicted headaches and migraines of massive proportion in his near future. "Oh and be sure to tell Mrs. Frisbee to stock up on stuff Asia likes too." 

"Of course, Sir." 

"Thank you, Edwards. If you need me I'll be in my study...calling my sisters. They aren't to know the truth either by the way. You can't tell anyone unless I inform you otherwise." Quatre said with a deadly serious look on his face. Telling Edwards wasn't a risk because the man had no life outside this house and rarely spoke unless it was necessary. In other words he wouldn't gossip or let it slip accidentally the way the housekeeper or her assistant might. 

"My lips are sealed. I'll go see to her room personally." Edwards replied, understanding perfectly. Soon the men went their separate ways and went about their business, one with purpose and the other with mortal dread. 

) 

Arriving at the house with Paris, Rome and Duo Asia was in high spirits as she helped them carry her boxes in. It would have made more sense just to pack a suitcase but that wouldn't really have given the impression that she was actually living there on a long term basis. So instead she'd packed up all her clothes and a bunch of her other stuff and brought it all along other then her furniture which she'd left for her friend Frank. Let in by Edwards everyone made their way upstairs and into the room prepared for her where boxes were dumped for Asia to go through later. 

"Man but I LOVE this room." Asia said as she spun around before falling back onto the bed with a delighted sigh. "I'm gonna get spoiled rotten here, I just know it." 

"If there is anything you need you have only to ask, Miss Asia." Edwards added as he set the last of her boxes down on the floor. "Would you like me to begin your unpacking?" 

"Oh no, I can do that, Edwards but thanks very much for the offer." Asia said as she bounced off the bed to give the crusty old relic a hug which he allowed but never returned. "Anyway where's everyone else? I haven't seen Quatre yet and I know he said that he wasn't doing anything this evening for the first time in history." 

"He's in his study making phone calls to his sisters." 

) 

"Ah, to tell them about me moving in huh? Bet he's gonna need a lot of aspirin once he's done calling all of them. No wonder he hasn't even come out to say hello." Asia said with a wince, having no doubt that her boss was in a lot of pain right about now. She couldn't see the news of him deciding to shack up with her as going over well. She got along with his sisters of course but she'd seen the women that they loved to push on Quatre on a regular basis. Perfectly pedigreed and mannered she was not. She was as mutt as you could get as far as she knew. "Has he even eaten supper yet?" 

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt." Duo said as he stuck his head in the doorway. "We stopped in on Quatre to say hi and all and he's looking like his head's about to explode or have a heart attack or something. We figure now isn't the time for company so we're gonna head. Asia, see if you can do something before those brains of his splatter all over the walls, okay?" 

"I'm on it." Asia said with a thumbs up. "See you guys later and thanks for your help." 

"No probs." Duo called out before heading out, collecting the McMasters, the trio letting themselves out. The were all hoping that someone got to Quatre soon before the guy had a mental breakdown. They'd tried to talk him out of finishing off the calls later but he'd just looked at them and said he had to call them now. It would be that much worse for him if he waited even a couple hours. Talk about painful. 

"Okay, Edwards, operation seek out and rescue is a go." Asia said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest as she mentally planned. "If you would start doing whatever it is you want to do I'm going to go draw the poor guy a nice, relaxing bath. We'll let him soak for an hour and then a light supper, soup or something maybe?" 

"Of course." 

) 

"Thanks." Asia said with a salute then began digging around in her boxes while Edwards left the room. Finding the one marked bathroom Asia tore it open and retrieved her bubble bath bottle, some of those little bath balls and some stuff you threw into the water for aromatherapy. Armed and ready Asia headed to the door that connected their rooms and walking through his headed straight for the door that led into the bathroom. Starting the bath Asia added all her wonderful ingredients, other then the balls, and when everything was set Asia headed off to get the soon to be bather. Finding him still in his study, finishing off a conversation, he was looking like he'd just been through a war. Asia could only wince in sympathy. 

"Look, Celina I have to go." Quatre said as he caught sight of Asia walking into the room. The last thing he needed was for her to overhear his sisters talking about her and not necessarily in a good way. "Look can you call Liselle, Bregetta and Tessa for me to tell them too? I have guests and I've been neglecting them." Sharing a few more words Quatre finally hung up, getting to his feet like an old man. "Sorry about that, I'm too late to help unload huh?" 

"There wasn't really that much to bring in." Asia said softly, tempted to just go over and hug him for an hour or so. He looked like he was ready to collapse in exhaustion. 

"Where's everyone else? I'm sure Edwards can whip us all something, I forgot to ask him to." Quatre said as he fought the urge to massage his pounding temples. "I kinda ushered everyone out of the office, I hope they weren't too upset." 

"Nope, they all went home too. They had other stuff to do and they figured you were going to be too tired to entertain. Anyway you need to come with me now and make up for the fact that you weren't around to help me." Asia said as she held out her hand to him. 

"Yeah, sure." Quatre said as he forced on a smile, letting her lead the way. She probably wanted to get some work done or help unpacking, he thought dimly. What he wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for a few years but that wasn't going to happen in this life time anyway. Well he'd just grab some aspirin and suck it up for now. He owed her that much. Not even noticing that she turned into his room instead of hers Quatre blinked when he found himself standing in his bathroom looking at a bathroom that smelled foresty and a tub that was filled with bubbles and steam. "What the...?" 

) 

"Get in and don't even think about arguing with me." Asia chuckled, pushing him lightly in the direction of the tub. "It's nice and hot, the jets are on and all you have to do is strip and get in. I'll go get you something to take with the aspirin since you're no doubt thirsty from all that yapping. When I get back I expect you to be in that tub or I'll put you there myself. After I strip you." 

"You did this..for me?" Quatre said in amazement as he looked from the tub to her. He was so thrown off by the idea that her threat to strip him didn't even register as something that should have made his headache that much worse. 

"Yup so get in before the water goes cold." Asia demanded, heading out of the room before he could say anything else. Closing the door behind her she headed down to the kitchen to get something cold for him to drink with the aspirin he obviously desperately needed in a hurry. 

Still a little in shock Quatre did as he was told and stripped down, throwing his clothes into a corner before climbing into the water. Settling in he gave a low groan of thanks as he sunk down to his chin in water and bubbles, not able to remember the last time he'd been able or had the time to just soak in the tub. When was the last tine he'd been in a tub with bubbles for that matter, Quatre absently wondered as he closed his eyes, his tense muscles slowly unwinding while the pain in his head began to quiet down. Not since he'd lived with his sisters who'd loved the stuff he'd imagine. They'd put it in for him when he was a kid. Hearing the sound of the door opening a few minutes later Quatre was too tired and comfortable to even care. 

) 

The bubbles had definitely been a good idea, Asia thought with a raised eyebrow as she walked over towards the tub. Otherwise she'd be getting quite the view. Setting the glass of cold fruit juice on the rim of the tub Asia waited until he'd opened one eye to show him the aspirin laying in her hand. 

"Words cannot begin to describe how much I love you right now." Quatre said as he sat up, forgetting for the moment that he wasn't wearing anything but bubbles and water. Grabbing a towel to dry his hands Quatre took the aspirin and the glass and quickly drained both, sighing in relief. "Thanks." 

"No problem. Now lean back and relax. You have bath balls to play with if you want." Asia added as she handed them to him and watched as he sank further into the water, the bath balls in his hands as he squeezed them, feeling them slowly dissolve and float away from his grasp the way he had as a kid. Pleased with herself Asia got up and headed out, thinking it was better for everyone if she left before he realized she'd been in the same room as him when he was buck naked. 


	8. A is For

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot ideas displayed here and in other fics written by me. Thanks to all those who've been reading and reviewing, I very much hope that you continue to do so cause I love hearing from you guys . Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. 

A is For... 

As was predicted there was a massive explosion at the news that the saintly Senator Quatre Winner was not only dating his secretary but that she'd actually moved in with him. The tabloids were full of the news and society was buzzing about whether or not this relationship was headed for wedding bells. Especially if perhaps those bells were going to be ringing out of necessity. Asia was more upset that everyone was writing her up as some penniless secretary then the hints of being knocked up. That amused her until she saw that the rumors were bringing Quatre perilously close to a mental breakdown, then she didn't think it was so funny. Everyone was watching them now and the gundam pilots found out with a mixture of amusement and horror that just about everyone in Preventers and Quatre's offices were talking about the pair. As it turned out the two were getting more trouble from everyone else then they were pulling off living together. 

Surprisingly enough things soon fell into a routine at the Winner estate between the two opposites. Having lived with over twenty sisters in one house Quatre had pretty much expected some havoc and routine disruptions since Asia caused more then enough trouble for twenty people on a good day. He had to admit though that it wasn't that bad at all. Sure they were both very different people in tastes which made TV time difficult and the music on the way to work a constant source of bickering but otherwise their lives meshed together surprisingly well. They both rose early and it was kinda nice eating breakfast with someone, even if she was constantly pushing juice and fresh fruit in his face instead of his usual coffee, coffee and more coffee with some cereal. Plus now that she was living with him they got twice as much work done and he was actually going to bed at a reasonable hour, minus the usual headaches and aches that resulted from his work load. As long as he let her talk none stop she was pretty much happy as a clam to stay up with him to work on extra stuff. He was actually even ahead of schedule on a few things. 

) 

Asia meanwhile loved living at Quatre's house and was already putting her personal touches here and there. Seeing the way Quatre functioned at home had been a real eye opener too and she was dedicating herself to improving things before the idiot gave himself an ulcer. Since Edwards wasn't the babying type Asia took over the role, making sure that Quatre ate well and didn't drink pot after pot of coffee while he tried to work himself to death. It had taken her a while to convince him that she didn't mind helping him without pay and now she was enjoying working with him at home, looking forward to it even. Then again when they were at the office they weren't sitting around in comfy sofas, eating munchies and talking while they worked. Work was so much funner when you were doing it together. She liked just hanging with Quatre and he was a pretty interesting guy when he wasn't talking about business. It was really starting to hit her that he had no social life too and that as a result she actually didn't spend all that much time with him outside work. She'd always thought that they were a pretty close team but she was finding out all sorts of other things about him that she'd never known before. 

) 

"I can't believe you never told me that." Asia said as she threw a pillow in the direction of Quatre's head, only slightly disappointed when he easily ducked out of the way even though his eyes were glued to the papers in his hand. "You know you could have saved me some valuable time if you'd told me what you thought of him then." 

"If I'd told you I thought that Jeffrey was about as trustworthy as an American president you would have said I was simply being judgmental because the guy wore nothing but black and had more earrings then you did." Quatre replied with a small smile as he looked up from his papers to find her giving him dirty looks. "Just because you love to find fault with every woman I date doesn't mean I have to do the same for you." 

"I do not find fault with every woman you date. I'm sure some of them were perfectly nice women who just weren't right for you." Asia said defensively though he wasn't exactly exaggerating. She tended to find at least one major fault with every one of his dates that she'd met. She didn't know why, she just did and as she was an opinionated person..well of course she spoke up. "And you haven't liked many of the boyfriends I've ever had." 

"That's because there's been so many. I was bound to like at least a handful of them." Quatre said with a smirk as she glared at him fiercely. "You know I'm right." 

"Shut up." Asia said as she stuck her lower lip out in a pout, a true cuteness weapon before shrugging it off, knowing that he was right. "I just haven't found the right one yet. It's incredibly hard to find a good man these days. They're all either married, engaged, old enough to be my father or gay." 

) 

Choking back a laugh Quatre had to admit that he liked it when she was pouting, she looked so cute and adorable though he'd never say so. She was liable to use it against him later in an argument, Quatre thought with a small grin. "Change that to girl and I can agree with you on that." Quatre added as he set some papers aside, reaching for his glass for a quick drink. 

"Yeah, I suppose so. I guess it's even worse for you since you've got to wonder if they're after your money and not just your looks." Asia agreed as she struggled to remember what the order was for the papers in front of her, completely missing his look of surprise at the compliment. "So ever been in love, Boss man? I've never seen you looking all ga ga over some girl but I haven't known you forever either." 

"No, not to my knowledge anyway. You?" Quatre asked with a curious look on his face, wondering if any of the various men in her life had ever been more then just boyfriends to her. 

"Once but it didn't work out. Or at least if it wasn't love love then it was on it's way to being it on my side." Asia said with a considering look on her face, her eyes soft and thoughtful as she reminisced in her mind. "We met at a concert a couple years ago and hit it off right away. We were together for like six months I think before he broke it off. He'd started developing feelings for his partner, he was a detective, and realizing it broke it up before I could get hurt even more. Even after his partner was killed later we never thought about getting back together, his heart, I think, will always belong to her. He's turn into quite the playboy now but Youji's a good guy all in all. A good friend." 

) 

"It's good that you could remain friends." Quatre said, envying this faceless man for being lucky enough to have the love of someone like Asia. What it must be like to love someone so much that she was the only one you could ever want or need. Someday he hoped he could have someone love him like that, Asia too. 

"Well I won't lie and say I was okay with it but Asuka was the right woman for him and it would have been wrong of me to punish him for feelings he couldn't help having. He could have said nothing and kept leading me on, especially since Asuka wasn't interested in him to begin with." Asia said with a shrug, absently wondering if she'd ever find a guy who would love her the way Youji had loved and still loved Asuka. She hoped so. 

"Started out that way huh? Well sometimes it seems like the best couples are the ones who started out on shaky ground." Quatre said with a chuckle, thinking of several couples who'd had their starts in far from ideal circumstances. 

"Too true." Asia agreed with a chuckle of her own, smiling at him as she decided to egg on her boss a little. The opening was just too good to pass up. "Did you know that some people thought you were going to end up with Trowa?" 

"End up with Trowa?" Quatre repeated with a blank look on his face, not understanding right away. Understanding dawning slowly though Quatre's face went pale white then bright red while Asia laughed delightedly, holding her sides she was laughing that hard. "You have to be joking!" 

"Swear to God it's the honest truth." Asia gasped out, would have raised her hand like she was swearing on a bible but she was too busy holding her sides. "They said you two were so close and that you were the only one who really got Trowa and that you seemed to be..well that you might care for him as more..then a friend." 

) 

"Dear God." Quatre said as he dropped his burning face into his hands, shaking his head with Asia's laughter in his ears. He didn't need to know things like this. He didn't want to think about things like this. Then a terrible thought occurred to him and he lifted his head to stare at Asia intently. He didn't know why it mattered to him so much but it did apparently. "You don't think I'm gay..do you?" 

"No." Asia said as she got out of her seat to get down on her knees in front of him, placing her hands on either side of his red face so that he'd look at her and know she was being serious. "I don't think you're gay though you do occasionally do things that would suggest that you were." Asia added as she smiled at him. 

"What things?" Quatre wanted to know, already preparing to make a mental list so he'd know not to do them ever again. 

"Well the way your so slow to make a move on girls, the way you never check them out even when there's like super model good looking girls walking by. The way you occasionally wear pastels is another thing, oh and the fact that you actually have some knowledge of the fashion world but that's not such a biggie." 

"So because I don't ogle women and I treat them well that makes me gay?" Quatre demanded to know, the injustice of it all. Since when had being a gentleman been reserved for men who weren't straight. What was wrong with his sex? 

"Pretty much though it's more the whole you don't seem interested in ogling women or hitting on them that gave some of the others the idea that it wasn't females you were interested in sexually." Asia said with a sympathetic look. The guy had had almost thirty sisters for Christ sake and being the only boy...well it was sort of a given that he'd be a bit more in touch with his feminine side then the average guy. "But I like you anyway." Asia thought to add, thinking it might make him feel a little better. 

) 

"Gee thanks." Quatre said wearily as he met her gaze, seeing the amusement and affection lurking in her eyes. They were really beautiful eyes too, Quatre thought as he stared into them, wondering absently why he'd never really realized it before. She was beautiful. 

"Quatre?" Asia said questioningly, something about the look in his eyes making her nervous. Not in a bad way but still nervous as she stared back into the sky blue depths of his eyes. She'd never quite seen this look in his eyes. 

"Hmm..yes?" Quatre said slowly, blinking as he realized what he'd been doing. Dear God but how long had he been staring? 

"Nothing." Asia said as she moved her hands away, Quatre biting back a need to ask her not to, to leave her hands where they'd been for some stupid reason. Both a little uneasy for the moment they went back to their work and stole glances at each other, each wondering why it felt like something big had happened without their notice or understanding. 

) 

"Oh Jesus Christ." Duo said as he set the phone down, his eyes closing as he braced his hands on his desk the next day. "Oh damn." 

"Duo?" One of the techs said hesitantly having come to see Duo about one of the ships. "Everything okay, man? Bad news?" The tech hazarded to guess and wondered what could have happened to shake his boss up like this. 

"Oh ya. And now I have to go relay it." Duo said as he opened his eyes, in control for the moment as he got to his feet then thinking ahead called Asia and told her to get the other guys in Quatre's office pronto, hanging up before she could even ask why. Heading there himself he refused to say anything until Trowa, Milliardo and Wufei filed in, Paris away on business and Rome and Relena weren't around at the moment. 

"What's up?" Asia wanted to know, everyone finally there. 

"Senator Roth was supposed to be having a political get together in two weeks and he had asked us to provide security for it." Duo began looking at the floor since he couldn't bear to see Quatre's face when he heard. "I called the guy's office to make an appointment with the guy to go over exactly what kind of security he wanted and was informed that at the moment the senator wasn't making any appointments with anyone due to a death in the family. I figured Relena and Quatre would want to know so I asked who had died so that we could pass on our condolences and stuff. Senator Roth's wife was found dead earlier this morning, she was murdered sometime last night by a yet as unknown perp. She was beaten to death, they had to identify her by dental records. Someone...someone branded the letter A into her chest. I called this reporter I used to date to get all the details she had." 

"Oh my God." Asia said with a horrified look on her face, her hands over her mouth. 

"That poor woman." Quatre said with genuine sorrow in his voice and eyes. Sure she'd been a pain and well, after him and all but she'd been a human being too who hadn't deserved to die that way. He didn't know anyone that did. 

"And you think this is connected, don't you?" Trowa said quietly, his words hitting everyone like a load of bricks. 

) 

"You think..she was killed because...that my..Oh God. It's my fault. it's my fault that she's dead." Quatre said in horror, slumping into his seat in a state of shock. "She's dead because she knew me. Everything that happened...all my..." 

"It is not your fault." Asia said as she rushed over, standing behind him as she wrapped her arms around him, chair and all. "It is not your fault and I won't let you think that. Not for one god damn second. She's dead because someone killed her. Because someone who'd lost what humanity they were born with and took her life in a cruel and heartless way. You didn't kill her, Quatre. You didn't harm a hair on her head. Someone else did. Someone lese is responsible for this and we're going to find that person. We are going to do whatever it takes to find that person and we're going to see to it that they pay. That they are held accountable for what they did to her. If you blame yourself, if you let yourself get bogged down by the idea that this is somehow your fault then you aren't helping her. You aren't standing for her, Quatre. She needs you to accept that there was nothing you could do and then she needs you to make the people who did this pay." 

"We don't even know yet if this was connected or a coincidence." Milliardo said calmly, thinking things through objectively because that was the only way they were going to get anywhere. "The last too times she's made an attempt it was with a relatively quick and well planned sort of way. Impersonal. This sounds like a brutal attack and beating, a personal statement. Especially the branding." 

) 

"A for adultery." Wufei piped up thoughtfully, considering the various angles and possibly reasons. "Long ago it wasn't uncommon for women who'd committed adultery to be branded like that, at least before the nineteenth century I believe. It was so that they would always bear the mark proclaiming what they were and what they'd done. Of course the men were allowed to do as they pleased but as history has always shown women tend to always get the short end of the stick in just about everything." 

"It fits too. She did have the morals of an alley cat." Milliardo commented. 

"Milliardo!" 

"Well she did, Quatre. She's hit on me, Paris and more then a few others, all while she was married." Milliardo said with a shrug. "I'm not saying that she deserved what she got, just that some people would say that the A was appropriate label." Hearing a knock on the door they all called out an enter and watched as Relena walked in with a large bouquet of flowers in a beautifully cut vase. "Who are those for?" 

"Quatre apparently. I found the delivery boy standing at Asia's desk looking more then a little lost and unsure of himself." Relena replied through the flowers as she navigated across the room and set the flowers on the table, grateful to put the heavy thing down. "There's a card somewhere in there." 

"Careful, man." Duo said as he got to his feet, eyeing the flowers like they were poisonous snakes just waiting to strike. "You aren't allergic to any flowers or anything are you?" 

"No and besides if it is from her she won't hurt me. It's everyone else she wants to get out of her way." Quatre said coolly as he found the card amongst the flowers and pulling it out of it's envelope read aloud. "My Dear Quatre, don't worry, I know that she is not who you want. I will remove her just as I got rid of that pathetic disgrace to my fair sex. Soon you will be free and we shall be together as we were meant to be. Signed your soul mate." 

) 

"Well that explains why she's sticking to stalking." Asia said as she tried to find some humor in all of this since everyone looked on the verge of cardiac arrest. 

"It does?" Duo said with a confused look on his face, not getting it. 

"Well yeah, she's only fair sex, what guy wants to have a girl that even rates herself as only fair in bed?" Asia said with a grin as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively as the guys groaned at her joke but looked at least a little less tense. "Me, I know how to keep my man happy. Right, sweetums?"

"Whatever you say, my possibly soon to be dead baby doll." Quatre said wearily as he pushed the flowers off to the side of his desk. "I guess asking you to be serious is pointless?" 

"Oh I always take sex seriously." 

"Why me, God? Why me?" 


	9. Dancing in the Rain

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot ideas displayed here and in other fics written by me. Thanks to all those who've been reading and reviewing, I very much hope that you continue to do so cause I love hearing from you guys. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. 

CONGRATS TO LIZ for getting the Weiss reference, I was wondering if anyone would clue in. For guessing correct this chapter is dedicated to you. Stay tuned for more Weiss references cause Youji won't be the only one mentioned and used into this fic heh. Weiss and Schwarz boys...drools. 

Dancing in the Rain 

With one death now on the stalker's plate the men were all that much more determined to hunt her down. It had become brutally apparent to them that this was a woman on a mission who had no moral objection to doing whatever the hell she wanted to get her desired results. Asia soon found herself with nearly twenty four hour bodyguard services since everyone was making sure she never went anywhere alone. As much as she liked the guys she was getting damn sick of the sight of them. It was three days now after the death of the senator's wife and they were all on the way to visitation, Asia squished between Trowa and Quatre in the back with Paris and Wufei in the front. 

"You know odds are she won't even be there." Asia pointed out for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I mean why would she bother? She knows the woman is dead and is gonna stay that way. She's crazy but I don't think she's that crazy." 

"But she might want to go since she knows Quatre will be making an appearance. Plus odds are she's in the same social circle as Quatre and Mrs. Roth, therefore she'd be expected by their peers to come to pay her respects." Wufei pointed out, trying to ignore how fast Paris was taking some of these turns. 

"I don't think she's going to try and kill me in a room full of overfed politicians and debutantes, Wufei." Asia pointed out dryly, absently brushing a hair from her black skirt. God but she hated this sort of thing. "And if she did there would be plenty of idiot civilians to get in her way." 

) 

"Better safe then dead, kiddo." Paris pointed out from the driver's seat, absently wishing he could take his damn tie off. Whoever invented the things had to have either been into torture or a female male hater. Like a damn friggin noose. "We're almost there." He added absently. "Now remember the rules, Asia or we'll have to get physical." 

"Well that could be interesting, good thing I'm in such good shape." Asia said with an impish grin on her face, hiding her nerves with well honed skill. "But be gentle, it'll be my first time with more then one." 

Silence greeting that statement for a good two minutes Quatre finally broke it in a rather small voice. "Did she mean...what I think she did?" 

"Likely." Trowa finally said as he looked down at Asia who just grinned up at him. Lord but she was a handful, Trowa thought, fighting a grin at her rather bizarre sense of humor. She used it often when something was bothering her or she was afraid. Better to crack a bad joke then let anyone see how terrified she was. Reaching over Trowa patted Asia's hand, noticing the girl's face turn to questioning surprise. 

"We're pulling into the parking lot at a funeral home and she's making sex jokes." Quatre muttered, staring out his window so he didn't have to look Asia in the eye. Odds were she was making faces at him anyway. 

"Well hey, at least you got it, Boss man." Asia said with a chuckle as she patted Quatre's hand comfortingly. "Normally that would have gone right over your head. Guess I'm wearing off on you." 

"Now there's a comforting thought." Quatre muttered as Paris pulled into a parking place. Eager to get out Quatre was first out of the car, manners having him hold out his hand to help Asia from the car. "Try not to make any while we're in there okay?' 

"Will do." 

) 

Walking into the room Asia couldn't help but give a slight shudder as she looked around them. She hated funerals and visitations, the smells and sounds you always found there. Too many flowers, sweat and weeping. Instinctively moving closer to Quatre they got into the long line of people waiting to greet and give their sympathies to the mourners. Maybe a quarter of the people here are even sorry she's dead, Asia thought as she looked around at the various people. She could only see two people in her entire line of vision that looked genuinely upset. How sad was that, to know that most of the people attending your visitations were there for political or social reasons. When she died there wouldn't be half the amount of people but she'd like to think that most of them would be genuinely sad that she'd croaked. 

"Large turn out." Paris said from behind them, Relena beside him having spotted them when she'd arrived with her brother and Rome. 

"No surprise there. The funeral will be even more crowded." Relena commented, leaning her head on Paris's shoulder as she tried not to think about why she was there. She was really no better then the other people around them, muttering about this eating into their busy schedules. She was here because she was supposed to be, not because she was in any way, shape or form sorry that the woman was dead. She was hard pressed to think of anything nice to say about the woman's character, not that she'd really known Marie. The woman had been so doll like she wondered if anyone had really known her. 

"And really who here is sorry that she's dead." Rome added dryly from behind Relena and her younger brother. 

"Rome." Relena hissed even though that had been exactly what she'd been thinking. 

"It's the truth. We're all here because we should be, not because we want to be." Quatre said quietly, all the more attention getting for it. "I can't claim to have liked her or even really respected her. She wasn't a nice person but she didn't deserve this either. I know if her death had had nothing to do with me I'd still be here, still have sent flowers and gone about the motions of acting like her death was a great loss. But she died in part because of me.. so I'm genuinely sorry she's dead. So I want to be here because it's the only thing I can do right now. Maybe none of us liked her...but we're going to do right by her." 

) 

"Thank you for coming, Senator Winner." Senator Roth said in a slightly shaky voice as he took Quatre's hand and shook it firmly a half an hour later. "My wife...I know she'd be pleased that you came. She always spoke highly of you and your work." 

"I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do you need only ask." Quatre said, feeling lower then a rat at the moment. Lower then a rat's fleas. Lower then anything including the middle of the earth. God all he wanted to do was blurt out that it as all his fault and beg forgiveness. How could he just stand there, shaking this man's hand like he'd had nothing to do with all this? What kind of a man was he? 

"Thank you." Senator Roth said with a weak smile before turning to look over at Asia. "You'll have to keep a close eye on your young man here, little lady. Time passes a lot quicker then you expect. It's important to keep a good grip on what's important." 

"I know it is, Senator. I wish that there was something I could say to make you feel better but I want you to know that Preventers has offered to help the police in any way we can. I give you my word we're not going to stop until we find out who took your wife away from you." Asia said as she took his hand, more then a little surprised by what she saw in the older man's eyes. She'd never gotten the sense that the Roths were overly close but apparently with death had come some revelations for the senator. Ones that had come just a little too late. 

"So Lady Anna told me. She and her daughter were here an hour ago." The senator said with a nod, letting her hand go only to then place it over Quatre's. The fact that there were people other then the police looking for his Marie's murderer one of the few comforts he had to hold onto. "Thank you both again for coming." 

) 

Practically herding Quatre away and over to a seat Asia sat him down on the nearest seat and since there was no other room perched on his lap with her arms around his neck, sensing that he needed it. 

"God." Quatre finally whispered, fighting the need to bury his face in her neck, to hide away from everything and everyone. "How could I do that? How could I just go up there and shake his hand knowing that if it weren't for me his wife would still be alive. That she's dead because of me." 

"She is not dead because of you." Asia said sharply, knowing that he'd been thinking that on and off since he'd heard about the murder. No one blamed himself better then her boss. "She died because she had her eye on you rather then her husband, Quatre. She died because someone noticed that fact and decided to do something about it. If you'd known what was going to happen you'd have given your life to protect hers. You're doing everything you can for her now. You never wished her dead or hurt, you never wanted this to happen. None of this is your fault and you know that. I'm telling you, just like everyone else has, this is not your fault." 

"Then why does it feel like it is?" Quatre whispered, giving into the need to lay his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes to everything that was going on around then as she cradled him close for a moment or two before he drew away, his eyes latching onto hers. "What would I do without you?" 

"You'll never have to find out." Asia said with a soft smile as she leaned forward to place a kiss on his forehead. "Now lets find the others." 

"Okay." 

) 

Taking Quatre's mental state into consideration no one talked about anything even remotely related to his stalker. Going back to work Quatre threw himself into paperwork like a man possessed and Asia left him to it, knowing that it was his way of coping with things. Instead she joined the others in an empty meeting room with Lady Une who was quickly filled in on what the others had been keeping from her. 

"And the reason I wasn't informed that one or more of my people were at risk?" Lady wanted to know, crossing her arms in front of her chest, wondering what the hell they were going to do. From the sounds of it the boys were doing everything possible but that didn't change the fact that Quatre was at risk, not to mention Asia and any other female remotely connected to him. 

"We didn't want to bring it to you until it was necessary. At first we assumed that she wasn't a major threat. We were wrong and take full blame for that. It never crossed our minds that she'd go after someone like Mrs. Roth." Trowa said with a sigh, trying not to think about how his best friend was handling all this. Quatre was the type who always felt that he should have been able to do something even when simple logic suggested otherwise. "She wasn't connected to him, she just wanted to be." 

"So now you're using Asia as bait and hoping that there won't be a repeat?" 

"With all due respect, ma'am, that's all we can do." Asia interjected, quick to come to her friends' defenses. "There's no way to protect every single woman that looks at Quatre's twice or thinks he would be a great guy to be involved in. Plus most people weren't even aware that Mrs. Roth had her eye on Quatre in the first place. Personally I think she was just pissed that she didn't get me at the restaurant and lashed out at someone who was a whole lot easier to do in. Mrs. Roth would have been an easy enough target, Senator's wife or not. I'm surrounded by the most high tech security money can buy most of the day and night, I'm not easy to get to. She couldn't take her anger out on me without risks so she took it out on someone else who's death she thought she could turn around into a gift to Quatre. Because that's how she's seeing it. She removed someone for him, as far as she's concerned she's done nothing wrong." 

) 

"And she's going to want a thank you." Trowa added, the idea scaring him more then he would ever admit. "She did him a favor. She's going to want something in return." 

"And when she doesn't?" Lady Une asked though she had a pretty good idea what the answer was. They were going to have a very upset murderer who's knight in shining armor had disappointed her. 

"She'll either try to hurt Quatre or place the blame on someone else." Rome said with a considering look, trying to put herself in this stalker's shoes. "When someone you care about hurts you your first reaction is to make excuses for that person. They got busy, they forgot...or someone interfered. Plus murder isn't a small thing, she's likely expecting something big in return. Since he doesn't know who she is...well she's either going to make herself available for his adoration or she thinks he's going to remove someone for her. Someone she's made clear she wants gone from his life." 

"You think she expects him to kill Asia?" Duo said with a concerned look, already dreading the idea of what this woman could be capable of if she got really angry. So far she seemed more annoyed but it looked like that was going to change shortly. 

"Not likely." Milliardo said with a shake of his head. "Normally you'd think she had turned him into a fantasy character but maybe she really does see him. He really is the knight in shining armor type, that's not an act or a dream cooked up by this woman. She has to know that he would never kill someone for no reason, that's likely why she killed Mrs. Roth too. He would never hurt a woman just because she was a problem so being his loving other half she had to do it for him. It's more likely that she expects Asia to be dumped." 

"Not to mention that she likely wants Asia for herself." Relena added, rubbing her arm against the chill in the air. It was like they were talking about a thriller they'd seen in the theatres or read about in a book. It just didn't seem real until moments like this. "I mean she sees Asia as the person who's using and seducing Quatre. And she is a girl. She's going to want a one on one, not someone else to do it for her." 

) 

"I agree. There doesn't seem to be anything else we can do that isn't already being done." Lady Une said with a sigh, rubbing her hands over her face before turning her attention to the others. "I want to be kept informed and I'm putting some of our best on the Mrs. Roth's murder. For now the connection with Quatre is to be buried and we can only hope it stays that way. I'd prefer that Senator Roth be left in the dark in that area." 

"Lady Une...perhaps you could make a list?" Relena hesitantly asked, the idea just coming to her. "The guys had Asia, Rome and I write down the names of women we knew who were interested in Quatre, maybe you know of some we don't." 

"Though very little seems to ever escape Asia I'll do that and give it to one of you before the end of the day." Lady Une said with a nod, already trying to think of people the girls wouldn't have hit on. There were a few of the "older" women in their class that were overly fond of the blonde charmer that would have likely gone over the girls' heads. "Asia I suggest you try to get Quatre to go home early this evening, he looked like hell when I saw him last." 

"Yes, ma'am." 

"Good, now lets just hope this woman chooses to give Quatre and us some time before she figures out he isn't going to be thanking her for her present." Lady Une said grimly as she got to her feet, setting her hands on the edge of the table as she leaned forward to give her soldiers hard looks. "And I expect all of you to be on your guard. She could very well decide to punish him by lashing out at someone he cares for, female OR male. You men are his family as much as his sisters. If she's done her homework then she knows that." 

) 

It was dark out that evening before Asia was finally able to convince Quatre it was time to go home. Bundling him up in his coat and scarf Asia felt rather like a mother as she fussed over him. Even stranger was the fact that he let her, not issuing so much as a peep the whole time as she ushered him out and into the elevator. Normally he always had a kind word for anyone they passed on the way out but today he was quiet, lost in his own little world. 

"Good night there, Senator Winner, Miss. Asia. Raining hard tonight." The security guard called out as they headed for the door leading to the parking lot. What was wrong with the senator, he wondered as he looked at the normally cheerful man who always had a smile and a greeting for him. He'd read about some other senator's wife getting killed in the paper, maybe Senator Winner knew her, the guard thought with sympathy. 

"Night, Jake. See you later." Asia called out for the both of them. "We'll have to run to the car huh, Boss man?" Asia said as she nudged Quatre, hoping for even a nod she was that desperate for reaction. "Don't want to get drenched." 

"Yeah, I guess we will." Quatre said with a sigh though when they were outside he didn't seem to care that he was getting wet, he continued on at his usual pace thought he did shift his briefcase so that it wasn't getting quite as wet. Getting into the car Quatre basically drove on autopilot, his mind elsewhere so that Asia was more then a little regretting not taking the keys. Arriving at his driveway Quatre couldn't even remember what route he'd taken to get there. Driving up to the house he looked over at Asia, absently noticing that her hair was plastered to her head. She didn't seem to mind though. Pulling into the garage Quatre got out then raised an eyebrow when, instead of heading for the door that connected the garage to the house, Asia went towards the door outside. "Where are you going?" 

"To dance in the rain." Asia called over with a grin then out the door she went. 

) 

Puzzled Quatre left his briefcase on the steps and headed over to the door, opening it so that he could look out. And there was Asia, standing in his driveway twirling around and around in the pouring rain. "You're going to get sick." Quatre called out, shaking his head at his assistant's bizarre behavior. "Come out of the rain now!" Why on earth would any grown woman want to stand out in the rain and twirl around like a broken top, he wondered. Then again this was Asia, she rarely made a lot of sense. 

"Nope! You want me to come in you've got to come get me!" Asia yelled back, getting more then a little dizzy as she spun and spun. 

"You're getting drenched out there. You'll be lucky if you don't get sick and die!" Quatre argued, instinctively stepping out though he was still protected by the garage's overhead. "Now come here this instance before you fall down and crack your head open." 

"You have to come and get me." Asia called out again in a sing song voice laced with laughter as she began to wobble instead of twirl since she was getting incredible disoriented by the second. 

) 

"Little idiot." Quatre grumbled as he walked forward, more then a little annoyed as he found himself getting drenched, then completely soaked when she spun into him, his arms coming up automatically to hold her there as he frowned down at her, not amused in the least. "Are you out of your little mind?" Quatre demanded to know, his hair plastered to his face, his clothes drenched and his shoes likely ruined. 

"I knew you'd catch me." Asia replied with a grin as she threw her arms around his neck for support as well as affection. "So my handsome knight in very wet armor, may I have the pleasure of this dance in the rain? I happen to know you're an excellent waltzer and I'm afraid my legs are quite incapable of keeping me upright at the moment." 

"What am I going to do with you?" 

"You're going to waltz in the rain with me." Asia informed him with a wide smile as she blinked back the rain in her eyes. "After all, a true gentleman never refuses a lady's request." 

"You're going to make me dance in the rain...aren't you?" 

"Yup." 

"Okay then...but if we catch something and die...I'm getting a new assistant in heaven." 


	10. Consolation Prize

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and plots my twisted mind had devised. Any infringing upon those ideas without permission will lead to me hunting you down like a dog. Anyways I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and can't wait to hear from you. 

Consolation Prize 

Despite Quatre's predictions the two didn't catch their deaths or even a cold though they were both glad to get into the warm house and out of wet clothes. Of course Edwards gave them hell for standing out in the rain but that really was a given. They'd had fun though and Quatre was so worn out he went straight to bed and slept like a baby for the first time since he'd gotten the news about the murder. A whole week went by and everyone was on pins and needles, waiting for the bomb to drop and not just figuratively. The bomb, so to speak, was dropped the day after, coming to Asia's desk in the hands of a young delivery boy. Signing for it Asia was delighted with the brightly wrapped package, eager to rip it open and see what it was. The fact that there had been absolutely nothing to give away who it was from though gave her pause. It wasn't her birthday or a special occasion, there was no one that needed to get on her good side either that she was aware of. Plus if that were the case wouldn't they want their identity known right off the bat. Of course she could just be paranoid but she knew that the guys would kill her if she opened an unknown package without letting them check it out first. Carefully cradling it in her arms she held it as best she could and quickly made her way to the nearest guys office which happened to be Trowas. Thankfully finding him there she handed it over and went with him to another room which had a machine that could scan things. Putting the package through the computer detected organic material but nothing to indicate for sure what was in it though it did eliminate the bomb idea. Ordering Asia back Trowa carefully removed the lid, took a look inside then quickly retrieving the letter shut the lid again. Firmly. 

) 

"What's in the box?" Asia wanted to know, wishing that reading his face wasn't harder then getting a nun to throw over her vow of chastity. The guy could be looking at the mutilated corpse of his twin and not blink. 

"Don't worry about it." Trowa said simply, opening up the seal bag that contained the envelope to keep it from being stained by any fluids leaking from the "present". He'd like to think that there would be prints but a quick scan showed that once again that hope wasn't going to be a reality. Once the envelope and letter were scanned Trowa read the letter, keeping a weary eye on Asia in case she decided to head for the box. She was, unfortunately, an extremely curious person by nature after all. 

"But it's my present, Trowa. I should be allowed to see what's inside even if it isn't a nice present." Asia reasoned, just itching to get her hand on that lid to see what was inside. A part of her was sort of afraid to know but she figured it was better to have an idea about what was going on then to be left in the dark. Besides that she was just too damn curious for her own good and knew it too. 

"If you saw it you'd have nightmares from years to come." Trowa reasoned then deciding to ease her bottomless curiosity handed her the letter. It was the lesser of the two evils. "But you can read this." 

"Okay." Asia said as she took it, having a gut feeling that she owed Trowa for not letting her look into the box. Big time. Holding the letter up Asia began to read, talking out loud absently. " Let's see what it says. 'Harlot. You have sunk your claws into my Quatre and the time had come for you to be declawed. You escaped my warning with relative ease but that was simply a warning, now I am serious. The seductive, evil spell you have casted upon him will be broken and you shall be broken along with it. Consider this token an example of the future that awaits you. You should have heeded my warning, unsigned.' You know, Trowa...I don't think she likes me very much." 

"Apparently." Trowa said dryly, taking the letter back from her to slide it into the envelope once more. "I don't suppose you got the name of the delivery boy's company?" 

"Well I didn't ask but I know it's the one two blocks south of here since that's the one I use and I recognized the uniform. They're a really hideous shade of reddish brown." Asia said with a weak grin, something about the envelope in the bag freaking her out more then it should. "Uhm..since you won't tell me what's in the box...are you going to tell Quatre?" 

) 

"I don't know how much of it. I'll have to think about it. But yes, we'll tell him about the package in general at least." Trowa answered, the idea of explaining the package's contents to Quatre about as appealing as showing them to Asia. There were two dead rats in that box and they had large pieces of glass sticking out of them like porcupine quills. He could only hope they'd been killed first. He couldn't say he cared for the species at all but not even a sewer dwelling rodent deserved to have shards of glass stabbed into it while it was still breathing. 

"You've seen way too much, haven't you, Trowa?" Asia said softly, coming over to give the surprised pilot a hug. Her life hadn't been all that great to start but from what she'd heard from other sources hers had been a picnic compared to Trowas. What must it have been like to have never had a childhood? To have never been a child for that matter. And how had he grown up to be such a good man when all he'd ever seen was the darkness of humanity. "I wish you hadn't, you shouldn't have had to." 

"Fate deals out the cards differently to everyone, it's no big deal." Trowa said as he awkwardly patted her back, touched that she would care though it was a little unnerving. He wasn't use to people being affectionate towards him, even though he was aware that his friends and Catherine cared for him. They just weren't touchy, feelie people. 

"But it's still not fair." Asia said with a shake of her dark head as she continued to hug him. "Not fair at all." 

) 

"Uhm..everything okay?" Quatre asked, not quite sure why the sight of Asia hugging Trowa bothered him at that moment. After all it had never before. "I went to find Asia and Carrie said she'd gone to take a package she'd gotten to one of you guys..I thought something..might have happened." 

"I got a package from the crazy lady but it was nothing harmful. At least I don't think it was since Trowa opened it and he's still alive and kicking." Asia announced as she let go of Trowa and was in front of Quatre in a flash, standing between him and the package without even thinking about it. "He won't let me see inside though, the big meanie." 

"What was inside?" Quatre wanted to know, looking over Asia's shoulder at the package, wondering if she was trying to shield him on purpose or if it was just accidental. "Any clues as to who it is?" 

"No clues, no prints to speak of. The contents of the package aren't going to give any clues either. You could...find the contents just about anywhere in the city easily enough." That was about the best way he could put it. "The letter was pretty much what one would expect. She's angry and plans to get Asia out of the picture." 

"Did she say what she was going to do and when?" Quatre wanted to know, wondering just what Asia had been given. It had to be bad if Trowa had shielded it from her. Asia was no shrinking violet. 

"No, just that it won't be at all pleasant." 

) 

Talking to the delivery company hadn't lead to any leads and so it was with a sense of dread that two days later Asia looked down at a simple white envelope that was waiting for her on her desk. It hadn't been there when she'd left for lunch. Looking around Asia couldn't see anyone out of place and sighing picked it up and went to find Trowa again. Meeting up with Rome on the way out from visiting Milliardo Asia hailed her down and asked her to check out the letter. Scanning it the same as before with nothing troubling coming up Rome handed it over to Asia who split it open and read the contents once before reading it out loud. "Asia. You're in quite a bit of trouble and they are only going to get worse. If you wish to know more about the person causing you problems then meet me at the vacant lot beside Dicey Reily's Pub on the east side tonight at midnight. I know you know it. It's signed a friend of a friend." 

"Someone who knows that you have money invested in that pub." Rome said as she crossed her arms, studying the computer printed words. "A friend of a friend..so why didn't they sign their name? Is it because they feared the letter being intercepted or because they knew you wouldn't come if they did? The fact that they bothered to do this on the computer, despite the shortness of the message is telling. They didn't want their writing recognized." 

"Which means odds are they'd be recognized by someone I might show this letter too." Asia added, following Rome's line of thought. 'So what do you think?" 

"I think we should keep this engagement along with a couple other guests." Rome said, already having decided on Sue Ling and Trowa as the back up. She needed trained professional killers, not pilots. 

"We should maybe bring Sally too, in case anyone needs a medic after Sue Ling and whoever else is coming deals with any trouble." Asia said with a small smile on her face. "And I guess this means I'm going to spend my evening in a pub." 

) 

"This is so an invasion of privacy." Julian said for the fifth time as he typed away at the computer, scanning for the transmitter that was still active on Rome. "You don't even know for sure that they're up to something. It is entirely possible that Rome, Sue Ling, Sally and Asia are out on a girl's night out and Trowa just happens to be out too. They aren't stupid, if there was trouble they'd tell us. Or at least you guys." 

"Or they'd just take the lethal ones along." Duo argued, swirling around in his seat. "Sure there's safety in numbers but there's also times when quality is better then quantity too." 

"Asia said in her note that she was going to the Aquaria Club and I've called there five times, Julian." Quatre reminded Julian, looking a tad harried. He'd received a very violently descriptive note about Asia's impending death that evening and when he'd tried to get a hold of her he'd had no luck. "She isn't answering her cell phone. None of them are and she promised me she'd keep it on her at all times. Plus Sally is a doctor, she should have her phone on at the very least." 

"Well I've found her, she's not far from here." Julian informed them calmly, bringing up a road map of the nearby area as he zeroed in on the location. "Hey, they're at Reily's. Hold on while I get a visual." 

"Reily's?" Duo repeated as he looked over at Julian questioningly. "Who's he?" 

"It's not a guy, it's a pub. Asia is one of the owners along with Rome, Max and the two original owners." Paris explained before Julian could. "It's a nice place. Excellent Guinesses." 

"Visual coming up. You're lucky that Rome insisted on security cameras outside the pub as well as inside." Julian muttered, images flashing across the screen so that they got the picture of a pretty deserted vacant lot and a familiar lone figure standing there, apparently waiting for someone or some thing. "There's Rome, by that black Mercedes. Looks like hiding by it would be the better word." 

"Those idiots, they set up a little sting of their own. Didn't they?" Milliardo practically growled, wishing his fiancee was in front of him so that he could ring her little neck. "Sue Ling and Trowa better damn well be there too or I'm going to kill both of them." There was no sound from the screen, everything was quiet except for the occasional car or loud laughter from the nearby pub. 

"She's out in the open, anyone could get to her before Rome could even get in the way." Quatre whispered, horror in his eyes as he watched, his heart beat picking up. They all stood and watched until ten minutes later, at exactly midnight a black car pulled in and came to a stop a few meters away from Asia. The door opening a single man got out, dressed in a black suit with the street lights flickering off the man's glasses for a moment. He addressed Asia by name. 

) 

"Crawford? Oh Jeez but do you know how worried you had me?" Asia said as her hands left her pockets to rest on her hips as she scowled at him. "Why the hell didn't you just say it was you? Even if someone else had gotten a hold of it they wouldn't automatically have thought of you. You don't do nice things like warn people after all." 

"Well I must say, your friends hide well." Crawford said as he looked directly in Rome's direction before turning to give Asia his full attention. "Do you want to call them out for this little talk? I assume Sue Ling is at least here as well even though she and Rome never have gotten along that well." 

"Know it all." Asia said with a smirk then turning cupped her hands to her mouth. "It's okay, guys. I know him and even though he's dangerous he's on our side for the moment!" 

From the shadows came Trowa and Sue Ling, both wearing a rifle over their shoulder as well as other weapons that were concealed. Rome exited her crouching spot while Sally got out of her car to join the group. 

"Guys, this is Brad Crawford. Crawford this is Sally and Trowa." Asia said as she motioned to them, Crawford already knew Rome and Sue Ling after all. 

"The Silencer, pleasure." Crawford said with a slight nod of his head. "Miss Po." 

) 

"So you know something about what's going on?" Rome demanded to know. She wouldn't put it past him to have used this as an excuse to get her to see him. He would have known Asia would come to her about this. 

"Straight to the point, I always liked that about you, Rome. Yesterday I was approached by three men who wished to hire Farfarello's services. An associate of mine who is particularly brutal and some would say sadistic when it comes to his dealings with his targets." Crawford explained for the two who weren't familiar with the Beserker. "As he is retired, as I am, I refused on his behalf. The amount of money, plus their assurance that this would be an incredibly easy job piqued my interest enough to make me ask as to who the target was. Imagine my surprise when I was told it was Senator Winner's lovely assistant and lover Asia. Your Asia" Crawford said with a pointed look in Rome's direction. 

"She..wanted to send..Farfie after me?" Asia said losing all the blood in her face in mere seconds, surprise and terror in her eyes. She could imagine few deaths more painful then at Farfarello's hands. Though he might have gone easy on her, seeing as he knew her and she wasn't religious. 

"Please, you know how he hates you calling him that." Crawford admonished before turning to look over at Rome intently, only she able to read the emotions behind those dark eyes. "You'll be happy to know I informed them that despite the generous offer we had to refuse. I thought you'd like to know just how peeved off this young lady is." 

"Do you know who she is? How do you know it's a she?" Rome demanded to know. 

) 

"Who the hell is this Farfarello and Crawford guy?" Duo demanded to know, seeing that neither Julian nor Paris had looked particularly happy to se this suit. 

"Farfarello is a sadistic monster with a habit of cutting himself and slicing to pieces anyone remotely religious. Or anyone he's told to kill. He's also completely incapable of feeling pain or much of anything." Paris said grimly. He'd only met the Irish man once but that had been more then enough to form a very bad opinion. "Crawford is or I guess was his leader. They were part of a group of four that were basically very high price thugs for hire. They went by the name of Schwarz and they're supposedly inactive now having made more then enough money off the deaths and suffering of others. Rome and Crawford are friends." 

"She's friends with this guy?" Milliardo repeated, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his Rome was buddy buddy with a hit man who hung around with sadists and worked for god only knows who. 

"Yeah, no matter what we said she's stuck by him all these years." Julian said with a grimace. "He makes no effort to hide what he is but she just says we don't understand him the way that she does. As far as anyone knows though he has retired from the hit men/thug business. Of course that's as far as anyone knows." 

) 

"I know it's a she because once I sicced Farfarello on them they were more then ready to talk." Crawford said with a shrug, the fact that he'd had three men tortured the day before causing not even a twinge of conscience. "They didn't know her name but she's upper class, early to mid twenties with long dark hair and eyes, soft, slight European accent. Spoke English flawlessly. They also said that she was a little under average height and on the thin side, small in the bust area." Crawford added with a faint smirk. "That was about all they could give me, she contacts them, not the other way around." 

"Are they still alive for me to question?" Sue Ling wanted to know. 

"Well they would have been except one of them started saying the Lord's Prayer. You know what that does to him." Crawford said with an almost apologetic look on his face. Once Farfarello got started interrupting was always unwise. "Besides I also let Schudich at them. We got all that was in their simple minds to get." 

"Well I guess that he deserved some consolation prize since he didn't get to chop me up into little pieces." 


	11. Is That Possible?

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters my mind has come up with and the plots they live in. Anyone who wants to borrow a character of mine may but please ask permission first, thanks. Thanks also to all those who've been reading and reviewing, I love hearing from you.

Is That Possible?

"Since you've likely already disposed of the bodies, do you at least know their names?" Rome wanted to know, pretty sure that he would since Brad was a very, very thorough man. The question was, what would he want in return?

"I took the liberty of finding that and more out." Crawford replied smoothly as he reached into his suit pocket, retrieving a disk that he held it out to Rome who took it and put it in her own pocket. "Now as I'm pushed for time I'd like one moment to speak with you, Rome. Then I need to be on my way."

"Thanks for the help, Crawford." Asia said as she tugged on his arm enough so that on tip toes she could kiss his cheek. "Even if you would have taken the contract normally."

"You're welcome." Crawford replied, a faintly amused look on his face as he walked a slight distance away, waiting for Rome to join him.

"So what's the story with those two?" Sally wanted to know as she watched Rome go over to talk with the handsome but obviously bad hunk named Crawford. Those two had some serious chemistry going.

"Well they're...friends." Asia said with a shrug, hedging the truth.

"Peacecraft's replacement if he screws up again you mean." Sue Ling corrected dryly, her eyes never leaving the pair. She didn't think Crawford would try anything but one never knew with him, plus Farfarfello was nearby, she could feel him.

"Replacement?" Sally repeated with a raised eyebrow, looking over at the pair with more interest now, her curiosity piqued. "I wouldn't think he'd stand a chance with her. Other than the immense control over his emotions he doesn't strike me as being anything like Milliardo. Plus isn't he just a little too bad?"

"They've been lovers on and off over the years." Asia confined with a wiggle of her eyebrows, unable not to spill. "Crawford is pre Zechs and when she and Milliardo were off then she and Crawford were on until she fell hard enough for our ice prince. Then she reduced her and Crawford to just friends which he didn't like at all. Needless to say if Rome hadn't made him swear not to harm a hair on Milliardo's head you can bet Crawford would have taken Zechs out years ago to get her back. Plus, they do say that every girl needs a bad boy in their life before they can appreciate a good one. Crawford is most definitely as a bad a boy as even the most bad ass girl can reasonably handle."

* * *

"And Milliardo would be classified as a good one?" Trowa wanted to know, Milliardo's past not exactly lily white.

"You could combine all the sins you and the other five pilots have committed and you would still not be nearly as bad as Crawford." Sue Ling commented quietly, not fond of the American in the least though she did respect his skill and abilities. "He's a true predator and a nearly unbeatable one. He's long since closed off his heart and his conscience, only Weiss has faced him in battle and lived to speak of it."

"Like this Farfie?" Sally asked, morbidly curious about this guy who's name had caused Rome, Sue Ling and Asia to tense up.

"Yuppers. He's a very hot Irishman who's pretty much insane. He's incapable of feeling pain so you could be pumping rounds of bullets into his chest and he wouldn't feel a thing even as he died. I don't know if he was born that way or if he's trained himself, he's cut himself enough after all that it could go either way. You ever see a young, white haired man with golden eyes, an eye patch and scars all over his arms and some on his face run, don't walk." Asia advised as she rubbed her arms for some warmth. Just talking about the guy was enough to freeze her blood. "They call him the Beserker."

"I've heard of him." Trowa said with the faintest of frowns. God but what would have happened if Crawford had taken the contract? He didn't want to think about it.

"Uh oh. He's upset her a great deal." Sue Ling announced as she nodded to Rome who was walking towards them with a pissed off look on her face as she muttered under her breath angrily. Meanwhile, behind her Crawford got back into the car as if nothing had happened.

"I have to give him my good bye, don't shoot him." Sue Ling told Trowa softly then in a flash she had three knives in her hands and was sending them flying into the nearby darkness, a couple car lengths away from Crawford's car. Moments later the same three, plus one more came flying back at her, aimed at her head, neck, heart and stomach. Caught in rapid succession and speed Sue Ling held them between her fingers and watched as Farfarfello appeared from the darkness, giving a slight nod in her direction before getting into the car as well which then drove off. "It's his way of saying hello." Sue Ling explained, busy studying the extra blade he'd given her. It was really nice.

"So that's Farfarfello." Sally whispered, feeling goose bumps break out on her arm as Rome rejoined them, muttering under her breath with a mutinous look on her face. "Bad news?"

* * *

"The bastard. That good for nothing, rotten bastard." Rome muttered, wishing she hadn't been too stunned to hit him. "He knows, he just knows. Now I'm going to be thinking about it all night, the assehole. I should hunt him down and kill him. No one would ever find his body and so what if I've never beat him? I'll take Sue Ling along and then just see if we don't win. I'll call Ran and the others into it too. He's gonna die for this."

"Uhm..what did he say?" Asia blurted out, trying to follow along.

"There's just no way that it could be humanly possible!" Rome blurted out, her eyes livid. "The human body was not meant to move like that. He just put it into my head because he knew it would plague me, especially since there's no way for me to find out! He knew I'd be thinking about it which meant I'd have to think of him and dammit! I want to kill him!"

"Find out what?" Trowa wanted to know, confused but pretty sure that Crawford must have posed a suggestion or question that was the cause of Rome agitation.

"If it's humanly possible." Rome snarled.

"Oh." Asia said with a grin, understanding blooming. Crawford had played one of his favorite games and gotten Rome all frazzled as usual "He does like playing with your head like that, doesn't he? Tell me?" Asia asked pleadingly as she moved over to Rome's side. "I get a kick out of them even though I could never manage most of them."

"You aren't helping." Rome said with a dark look then with a sigh leaned down and whispered Brad's little suggestion in Asia's ear.

"Oh. Oh." Asia said with a faint blush coming to her cheeks. "There is no way in hell that that's humanly possible. If it is it's gotta hurt like hell. Though..maybe it would be worth it."

"That kind of suggestion?" Sally smiled as she clued in, Trowa still in the dark while Sue Ling had no problems understanding the conversation. "Well in that case I should point out I am a doctor." Sally added with a devilish grin. "I could give my opinion, as a physician."

"Nice try, Sals but I'm not buying." Rome replied with a reluctant smirk even as she caved in. "Promise never to repeat this to anyone without permission?" When Sally nodded Rome moved over and repeated the suggestion in Sally's ear, smirking when Sally's cheeks went bright red. "So, doctor..in your expert opinion..is it physically possible?"

"Ask me again when my brain's functioning again. That just caused a huge electrical surge of massive proportions." Sally said dryly, looking over at Asia who was whispering to Sue Ling before turning back to Rome. "I don't suppose you could put in a good word for me with him? At the moment..I don't care how bad he is with that sort of creative imagination."

"It's possible."

* * *

Everyone looking over at Sue Ling, Rome was the first to speak. "You think so?"

"Both participants would have to be triple jointed as well as male and female but yes, I believe it is possible." Sue Ling answered with a calm expression, not surprised or shocked in the least by any of it. Shocking her was harder than shocking Trowa in certain areas, especially such as this one. "I can at least say for sure that I could get my own body into such a position."

"What did he say?" Trowa wanted to know, having clued in enough to get the general idea and was now curious, embarrassingly enough. All the girls but Sue Ling turning to look at him in shock he self consciously shrugged. "I can be curious too. Plus you'll all be talking about it the whole car ride back."

"Hey, you know Trowa is triple jointed." Asia pointed out, a decidedly evil grin on her face as she sent Trowa a deviously amused look. "So we know that a female can manage..he'd know what his body can and can't do."

Looking weary now as three pairs of female eyes looked at him with new interest Trowa suddenly got the urge to run and run fast.

"If I told you you'd have to swear never to tell ANYONE what Crawford said. Not any of the guys, especially any related to me." Rome warned carefully as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, even as she warmed up to the idea. "No one without permission."

"Fine." Trowa said with a shrug, very curious now but hiding it easily.

"Okay...uhm..Sue Ling..would you mind telling him?" Rome asked, her cheeks going the faintest of pinks. "He's too much like another kid brother and you're the only one who could say it and make it sound like you were talking about asking for another cup of tea or something."

* * *

Rolling her eyes Sue Ling moved closer to Trowa then motioned him to bend his head down before going up on tip toes to whisper the suggestion in practical, straight to the point terms. When she was done she stepped away then couldn't help but smile just a little. The Silencer, the king of control stood there with his mouth open and a fine blush moving over his cheeks.

"Oh my God..Trowa is blushing." Asia cried in delight, throwing her hand over her mouth as her eyes danced with laughter. "He's actually blushing. Something actually got through that armor of his. Who knew it would be sex talk."

"And that's not pink, that's a full blown red blush." Rome added with a laugh, reaching over to pat the poor guy on the shoulder. he looked like he'd just been told he was actually Duo's twin brother and was in love with Paris who was really a girl who'd had a sex change.

Knowing he was blushing but unable to do anything about it Trowa barely heard their teasing comments. All he could think about was Sue Ling's voice whispering that in his ear and her calm statement that she could get her body into that position. He was only human and a perfectly healthy heterosexual male. He now had that image branded into his head and he seriously wondered if he was ever going to be able to look Sue Ling in the eyes again. He really doubted it.

"So, Trowa...your opinion on the possibility?" Sally inquired innocently, laughter dancing in her eyes. She couldn't help it, it was just so funny to see the great ice man Trowa Barton taken down by a little dirty talk.

"It's...it's...possible." Trowa managed to croak out then stuffing his hands in his pockets got the hell out of there, walking towards their cars at a speed walk that had the others hurrying after him.

* * *

Arriving back at hers and Milliardo's apartment an hour later Rome yawned as she unlocked the door then sliding in hung up her coat and put away her boots before walking into the living room, nearly having a heart attack when she found her brother, Julian and Milliardo waiting for her, all sending her looks that could freeze a person a mile away. Okay...they weren't happy about something. Raising her hands in the air Rome smirked, trying to defuse the tension in the air. "I'm unarmed. What's got all your boxers in twists?"

"How could you have been involved with Crawford!" Julian blurted out before one of the other two could let loose. "He's evil!"

"He's not evil, he's just..Crawford." Rome replied calmly, reevaluating the situation. Apparently they'd somehow found out about just how involved she and Crawford had been and were now on the war path. The question was..well it wasn't a question, she knew. Hell. "You were monitoring tonight I take it? I can't see any other way since he enjoyed pulling the wool over your eyes too much to tell you." Her eyes were on Milliardos though and they gave away nothing.

"You're damn right we were. What the hell were any of you thinking? And what the hell did that bastard say to you?" Paris demanded to know, coming to one of the main points of this confrontation. All the times it had been spoken of it had been in whispers too low for the cameras to pick up. Curiosity was driving him bonkers.

"What a way to start the day." Rome muttered as she walked over to take a seat. This was going to be worse then meeting Farfarfello in a dark alley while you were dressed as a nun.

* * *

Everyone coming to work the next day it became everyone's goal to attempt to bribe Asia, Trowa and Sally into spilling the beans. Unfortunately for them everyone was holding to their promises and besides that, none of them wanted to explain it to the guys.

"Come on, Trowa." Duo begged as he waved a donut in Trowa's face. "Why won't you tell me? I promise I'll never tell anyone, ever. I'll take it to my grave. I swear. Come on, its been killing me, wondering what the guy suggested. It had to be pretty hot for you to blush."

"I gave Rome my word." Trowa repeated having had to say that a lot already and it wasn't even noon yet. He wouldn't be at all surprised if Julian or Paris visited him with offers now in the tens of thousands. They really, really wanted to know. Apparently they'd ambushed Rome when she'd gotten home and they'd been bombarded her ever since until she locked herself in the bathroom in self defense until they'd left for work. He also knew that the two, along with Milliardo were now hunting for the where abouts of this Crawford though they'd apparently had no luck so far.

"I'll never tell her that you told me though." Duo pouted, giving Trowa his best puppy dog eyes.

"If you don't want me to hurt you you'll leave, Maxwell." Came Rome's cold voice and turning around Duo took one look at her face and got the hell out of there. Watching him go Rome sighed then walking over took a seat in front of Trowa's desk before laying her head down on his desk. "Thanks..for not saying anything." She finally said, her shoulders slumped. She'd gotten zero sleep and the most important men in her life were furious with her. Definitely not a good day so far.

"It will blow over eventually." Trowa said as he leaned over to awkwardly pat her shoulder. "And none of us will..err..break our word."

* * *

"Milliardo won't look at me." Rome said pitifully, feeling like Trowa was the only one she could come to at the moment. She'd originally intended to go to Quatre but she figured the root of the problem would just ruffle him. Plus he was mad at her too for not including him the night before. "It wasn't like I just went back and forth between them, Trowa. I was involved with Brad first and then when I went to Mars with Milliardo I broke up with Brad because I realized I was developing feelings for Milliardo. I knew that Brad..well what he was becoming...that he was becoming less.. humane every time I saw him. Then Milliardo showed no interest in being serious so I went back to Brad for a while but then Zechs started to let me in and I knew I loved him so I called it quits for good with Brad and stuck with Milliardo, even when he gave me cause to dump his ass. Now he's acting like I've been sneaking around with Brad behind his back all these years, dammit."

"Well this isn't uhm..my area of expertise but I think you just have to give him time to accept things. If he can't handle the fact that you once had a..strong relationship with someone else then he's not the man you deserve." Trowa said carefully, on thin ice here, especially since he didn't have any experience in these sort of things. All he could do was use simple logic. "It's wrong of him to be mad at you for this but I guess even in today's society men view a woman's sexual history differently then they would another male's."

"Tell me about it." Rome muttered but she lifted her head, feeling better to hear a guy agree with her. She'd known that her girlfriends would have been better at comforting her but what she'd really needed was someone who wouldn't sugar coat or lie to her to make her feel better. You could count on Trowa to tell it like it was regardless of your feelings. "Thanks, I just needed to hear it from someone who's opinion I respect as much as yours."

* * *

Surprised and flattered that she would value his opinion he was just about to tell her he was happy to help when he saw Milliardo in the doorway, watching Rome. "Something I can help you with, Peacecraft?" Trowa wanted to know, deliberately putting ice in his tone to get his opinion across. Even when he was angry his voice never changed so when he made the effort to put feeling into it it made double the impact.

Looking over at the doorway Rome sighed then got to her feet. "I should be heading into the office, I'll see you this Sunday for Thanksgiving or whenever." Rome said with a weak smile in Trowa's direction before getting up to leave the room, not really all that surprised when Milliardo followed her out, wordlessly walking at her side.

"I'm still going to kill him." Milliardo finally said, his hands shoved into his pockets. "But I'm not very mad at you."

"You can try if you want." Rome said with a faint smile, understanding that in his way he was trying to make up. He was lousy at it but she reached over to slide her arm through his, moving close enough to brush against him. "And I still won't tell you what he said."

"As my absolutely bestest friend you should tell me." Julian said as he gave Sue Ling his most pitiful looks without much success. Giving up for the moment Julian sighed then brightened as he remembered what he'd planned to tell her before this whole can of worms had been opened. "I found a way to get closer to Catherine, I forgot to tell you my great plan."

"Let me sit down first." Sue Ling said as she took a seat then waited for him to drop what was sure to be a hell of a bomb.

"Oh yea of little faith. I'm going to go visit her sometime around Thanksgiving and convince her to let me become a silent partner in her circus. Isn't that a great idea?"


	12. Under The Top

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the story lines. Everything else belongs to some other luck sons of bitches with a hell of a lot more money then me.

Under The Top

Sitting alone in a room a lone sat in the darkness, absently stroking the fur of her puppy. She'd gotten it from Quatre and so it figure was treated like royalty. In fact it had been a gift from one of her beloved's sisters but the puppy's mother had belonged to Quatre so it was more of a gift from him. The fact that he didn't even know she had one of the puppies had never crossed her mind. She'd been fated to have the puppy, just as she'd been fated to be Mrs. Quatre Winner. It was her destiny and no one was going to stop it. After all, anyone could see she was perfect for him. His other half. He just didn't know it. He couldn't see it with that whore between them. That conniving little bitch, a worthless piece of filth that should never have lived. God had surly sent that Gundam down upon her to get rid of her, to protect her pure angel Quatre from the witch's wicked ways. But the devil had spared her. Had sent her to try to corrupt and seduce Quatre from his path. But she would carry out God's wish and protect her Quatre from the devil's servant. She would send the evil one back to hell and walk at Quatre's side. Till death did them part.

Hearing a knock at the door the girl's head swung, a suspicious look coming across her face before she forced herself to relax. It wouldn't do to let others see her mission. Though her mission was pure and holy some wouldn't understand. So many people misunderstood her. But Quatre wouldn't. He'd see her and love her for all that she was. He would understand why she'd done the things she'd done. He would see. "Enter." The girl called out, pulling her lips into a welcoming smile for whoever had dared disturb her.

"Miss." A servant said quietly, opening the door but remained where she was in the doorway, not daring to cross the threshold. Though most considered her mistress to be a sweet and lovely girl there was just something about her that gave the old woman the creeps. It seemed to her that there was something missing in the girl's eyes. Had she been a fanciful person she might have said that what was missing was a soul. "I just thought you'd like to know that your costume has arrived for the Halloween party."

"Good. Put it in my room."

"Yes, Miss." Bobbing a quick curtsy the woman beat a hasty retreat, closing the door behind her.

"It's going to be a wonderful party." The girl whispered, looking out the window. "Don't worry, my darling. I'm coming for you soon. NO ONE will stop us from being together. No one."

* * *

"Uncle Julian..do you really think this is a bright idea?" Six year old Elizabeth said as she looked out her window absently before giving her uncle her full attention. "I mean bad things tend to happen when Sue Ling isn't around to supervise you."

"I think I can handle taking care of you for two days on my own, pumpkin." Julian assured though he really didn't believe any such thing. They'd only just arrived here and already he was sweating bullets. Dear God, what the hell had he been thinking? It had seemed like a brilliant idea in theory. The key word being theory. Bring his niece and nephew to the circus, show Catherine that he was a family man and that he was well loved by children so then she'd like him more. After all he wanted at least three of his own and as their future mother she should know how great a parent he'd be. At least that had been the plan. But if Elizabeth didn't think he could do it...and everyone else thought the idea crazy...well maybe, just maybe this was going to backfire.

"I don't know, Uncle Julian. Grandmother says you couldn't find your own head if it wasn't attached to your neck." Eight year old Grayson said as he patted his uncle on the shoulder from the back seat.

As his mother had said that to him countless times to his face Julian wasn't overly surprised to hear that his mother had felt the need to belittle him in front of the children. Besides, it wasn't like his brother didn't call him much worse. "Well that might be true but I could never lose the two of you."

"Don't worry, Uncle Julian. We'll be on our best behavior for you." Elizabeth said soothingly. She could tell her uncle was nervous and she didn't want him to send them back home. They loved their uncle most in their entire family and they loved being with him even more. He didn't yell at them or constantly tell them how to behave. He was like a big kid most of the time and that's how they liked it.

"And I appreciate that." Julian said with a smile as he checked his watch to get an idea of time to destination. They were almost there. "Because I'm trying to convince someone who owns this circus that I'm a trustworthy person and I wont look very responsible if I lose either one of you. Not to mention what your dad would do to me."

"He'd only care because everyone would expect him to. He'd likely be glad we were gone, so that he'd have another reason to say bad things about you." Grayson said with a faint sneer though there was a touch of pain behind it. His father's lack of feel towards his children was not something the man tried to hide. Grayson didn't think his father loved anyone. "He likely wouldn't even notice we were gone for over a week."

* * *

"Well I wouldn't say that." Julian said carefully though in his heart he knew he was lying. His older brother was...well even at his most inept Julian knew he would be by far the better father. It seemed like..in the MacMaster family anyway, there was always a dreamer and a machine. Just as Rome and Paris's father had been the dreamer, Julian's had been the seemly unfeeling machine who said things like spar the rod, spoil the child. Julian could only pray the cycle would end with himself and his brother. They'd never really been brothers, hadn't been allowed to be. When your father made you compete with your brother for even the smallest acknowledgment brotherly feeling had gone out the window. He'd had his uncle to keep him dreaming while his brother's dreams had become their father's. It was sad really, to have a brother who'd sooner push you in front of traffic then to look at you. Who'd never stopped doing his best to show you up, even though it didn't matter to Julian one wit.

"I would." Grayson muttered then something catching his eye he straightened and pointed out the window. "Look! The tents!"

"Ha, how about that. I didn't get us lost." Julian said with a grin, rather proud of his accomplishment. Geography had never been his strong suit.

"So are you really going to own part of this circus, Uncle Julian?" Elizabeth wanted to know, awed at the idea of her uncle owning something so wonderful. She loved the circus and if her uncle owned it then she could come visit it lots. Visiting her Uncle Julian was her favoritest thing to do. It would be even better if he had a circus.

"Well that's what I'm hoping. Catherine won't be an easy sell but I'm going to do my best to convince her that taking my money is a good thing. She's got a wonderful circus but it needs some updating which means money she doesn't have at the moment." Julian explained as they pulled off the road into an area he would imagine would be filling up with cars later. Coming to a stop he turned the engine off and getting out held the door open for the children before locking up. "Now stay with me, you two. No wandering off. There's a lot of trouble you could easily cause and right now I need you two to be as angelic as possible. You do and I'll take you to the most kid oriented restaurant you can find."

"Yay!" Elizabeth said as she clapped her hands. "And will you let us get an in room movie? And room service?"

"It's a deal." Julian said as he gravely shook his niece's hand. He spoiled them rotten when he had them and he wasn't overly ashamed of the fact. They got spoiled little enough at home. "All right then. Lets see about finding the ring master." It took them a few minutes but finally they found her just as she was coming out of her trailer. "Hello, Catherine!" Julian called out as he waved before she could walk off somewhere. With the kids in tow she could easily get away from him.

* * *

"Julian?" Catherine said as she stopped in her tracks, staring at him and the two children who appeared to be with him. Come to think of it the boy rather resembled him though as far as she knew Julian didn't have any children. They were both adorable though and she thought it cute the way he held there hands even as he strolled over, slowing his strides for the little girl's sake. "What are you doing here?" She added as soon as he was close enough that she didn't have to yell.

"Well I had my niece and nephew for the weekend and thought they might like to go to the circus. I've already done quite a bit of research on your circus but I thought I should see it first hand, especially if you're going to consider my offer. By the way this is my nephew Grayson and my niece Elizabeth. This is Miss Bloom."

Smiling at the children as they respectfully said hello Catherine nodded. "Nice to meet you both. You can call me Catherine." She was just about to ask them how long they'd be staying when one of her men came running over looking more then a little distressed with plenty of grime and grease on his clothing. "What is it, Gus?"

"It's the Ferris Wheel, Catherine. Something's wrong with it though for the life of us we can't figure out what. We've been at it the last two hours and we're no closer to the answer then when we started."

"Damn it...sorry." Catherine added, remembering the children a little too late.

"Can I look at it?" Julian blurted out, looking a lot like a child begging for a new toy, his eyes wide and pleading. "Can I pleaseeeee. I promise I won't hurt it or anything. Maybe I can fix it. Free of charge and everything. Pleaseeeeeee?"

* * *

"Do you have even the slightest idea how to repair one?" Catherine said as she crossed her arms in front of her, a bemused look on her face. He looked like he might get down and beg at her feet at any moment.

"Uhmmm..not exactly. But I'm really good with machines and I'm always taking things apart and usually I can put it back together again, sometimes even better then before!" Julian declared, looking hopeful since he hadn't got a no right off the bat. "And I promise that I won't do anything without running it by this fine gentleman first." He added, motioning to Gus with a hopeful grin. "Pretty Pleasee? With a cherry on top."

"You better let him or he'll be miserable for the rest of the week." Grayson advised, rolling his eyes at his uncle antics. "He won't hurt it, it's already busted anyway."

"All right..you can look." Catherine said with a smirk, shaking her head at him. He made her feel as though she'd be kicking a puppy if she told him no. She'd never seen someone so excited at the idea of playing around with a busted machine. "You can buy me a new one if you wreck it."

"I promise." Julian said with a wide grin as he slapped a hand against his heart, the picture of eager promise. Following Gus and Catherine Julian rubbed his hands together as he stared at the new toy as it came into sight, ideas already swirling around in his ever thinking head. All set to dive right in he was stopped by his niece tugging on his arm just as he was about to leap into action. "Hmmm?" Julian said absently having completely forgotten they were there for a moment. "What?"

"You'll get your new shirt filthy." Elizabeth pointed out, a knowing look on her face as she stared up at her uncle. He really couldn't survive without a female looking out for him. "Sue Ling will be mad." Elizabeth added when her uncle simply looked at her blankly. "Grease and oil don't come out easy and you'll forget it at the dry cleaners if you even remember to take it in."

* * *

"Good point." Julian said thoughtfully, fingers quickly going to buttons then stripping the shirt off handed it to Elizabeth. "Here ya go, squirt. Hold this for me. There's a love." He said absently with a quick pat on her head.

Blinking Catherine stared at Julian's bare back. She'd expected girlie limbs but it wasn't the well defined arms and nicely built body that held her attention. No, it was the scars on his back that had her catching her breath. Burns, severe burn marks from the looks of it. "Julian...your back?"

"Like my tattoo?" Julian said with a grin though he was well aware she hadn't meant it at all. Lifting a hand to tap his left shoulder he tapped a finer against the reproduction of his family's coat of arms. "Rome and Paris had to get me utterly smashed before they could finish it. Ghastly things, needles."

"I never took you for a tattoo man." Catherine said carefully, letting him have his way. They weren't friends or even business partners yet. He'd tell her if he wanted to later.

"He can't even hear you now." Grayson said as he motioned to his uncle who's torso was visible while the upper half was buried in the guts of the ride. "That's why he needs Sue Ling to baby-sit him all the time. When he's in the zone he forgets everything. He won't remember we're alive until he's done playing. It's nothing personal."

"And I'm hungry." Elizabeth announced to no one in particular.

"Are the food tents set up?" Grayson asked, taking his sister's hand. "Uncle Julian gave us money for spending." He added, taking out his wallet and opening it to show Catherine that the kid had more money then her wallet did at the moment.

"Well then lets go get some food." Catherine said as she held out her hands, smiling when Elizabeth took her hand right away. Together the three of them set off to find some food while Julian played happily with gears and wires for a couple hours. After electrocuting himself a couple times he got it working and became the hero of the day. Eventually he remembered his niece and nephew, glad to see that they'd been in good hands.

* * *

"Hey, Quatre. I was thinking." Asia began with an innocent look on her face that immediately put her boss on his guard as he wearily watched her from behind his desk. He was already on his guard which was a bit of a problem but she could work around it. She knew her boss better then most after all and she was a woman who knew how to get what she wanted.

"Don't think. I like you better when you aren't thinking." Quatre said as he narrowed his eyes slightly, never taking his gaze from her. "You can't get me into trouble if you're not thinking."

"That's mean."

"But true."

"Well I was thinking that maybe, just maybe you'd let me get off early tonight?" Asia said with her best you know you want to look. Of course he didn't want to but that was beside the point.

"And I would want to do that why?" Quatre wanted to know, lifting an eyebrow. One of her get Quatre to go home early ploys perhaps? After all they were supposed to be each other shadows lately.

"Because I need to be somewhere tonight. Because I've been working really, really hard today and have all my work done like a good little girl?" Asia replied cheekily, grinning at him. "And before you say no I'll tell you that where I'm going there will be lots of people and I'll be perfectly safe."

"Where do you want to go?" Quatre wanted to know, seeing his quiet evening at home going up in smoke. There was no way he was letting her go anywhere without him.

"An art show."

"Really?" Quatre said in surprise, a puzzled look coming over his face. "The last time we went to an art gallery you said you'd rather be chained to a car hood then go to another one."

"Well those were boring pictures that didn't even look like anything. It looked like some two year old had splattered paint all over a canvass. " Asia said as she wrinkled her nose at the memory. "And these are sculptures, not paintings. Plus I know the guy who did them and I promised to show."

* * *

"Oh. Well let me finish a couple more papers and then we can both go." Quatre said with a smile, relaxing now that he knew there was nothing to worry about. "Talented fellow?"

"Uhm...ya." Asia said hesitantly then figured she should give her boss some warning. After all, he'd had a long day. "But maybe you shouldn't go. It's not exactly your sort of art."

"Oh dear God." Quatre said with a groan, closing his eyes as he felt a headache coming on. "What sort of art is my girlfriend going to be reported as being interested in? You know that the media will find out somehow and for you to give me warning when you love shocking me so much..."

"Well you see he's recently fallen in love with this stripper and he's been using her for his muse. Apparently some of his stuff is pretty...interesting. She's quite bendy apparently." Asia said with her tongue in cheek. "If it makes you feel better I don't think I'll be buying anything."

"Small comfort."


	13. A Sexy Sculpture

Disclaimer: Hi everyone and hope you had a great summer. BIGGEST APOLOGIES for not updating until now. I could give you a lot of reasons but really all I can do is say I'm really sorry and that it won't happen again. Thanks to all those who've waited and are going to give me a second chance. As always only the original characters and plot lines belong to moi.

A Sexy Sculpture

If he'd still been wearing his tie he would have tugged on it. He'd been to this particular art gallery plenty of times but he couldn't say as he knew many of the people in it. Most of the people weren't even really properly dressed for an art showing. Then again he'd never been to an art showing that feature so many suggestive and nude works of art before. Not only that but Asia had deserted him, Quatre thought with a faint scowl, stuffing his hands into his pockets since Asia had made him leave his jacket and tie in the car. Back in ten minutes she says, Quatre mentally muttered. Well it had been at least twice that and he hadn't so much as caught a glimpse of her. Knowing her she was doing it on purpose too.

"Quatre?" Came a hesitant voice and turning Quatre barely contained a groan. It was the owner of the gallery and a friend.

"Hello, Katrina. How are you?" Quatre said with his most charming smile. "Quite the turn out you've got here. You must be pleased."

"I am. The question is what are you doing here?" Katrina replied with a teasing elbow jab. "This isn't exactly an art form you're interested in. You aren't much for sculptures, much less of this sort of subject matter. Asia's influence now that she's leading you over to the darkside?" She teased affectionately. She of course knew Asia as well and was delighted with the pairing if admittedly surprised.

"Actually she knows the artist so...and some of his artwork is...interesting." Quatre said, for lack of a better word. Plus his breeding and kind heart forbid him from giving a negative opinion on something the artist had likely worked very hard on. Not to mention the fact that said artist was Asia's friend.

"Actually...there is one of his pieces you might be interested in." Katrina said hesitantly, not wanting to offend one of her best clients. It was true, she thought, that Quatre the man would appreciate the piece but on the other hand Quatre the senator and gentleman might have a problem with it.

* * *

"Oh?" Quatre inquired, more to be polite then actual interest. He hadn't seen anything that had overly caught his eye. The wooden sculptures were beautiful in their forms and attention to detail but that didn't change the fact that the themes of the pieces weren't his art style.

"Yes, and before you figure I'm just trying to make a sale I am but I also think you'll at least be impressed. It may be along the theme of these other works but its got something special to it. I'd bid on it myself if it weren't for the fact that Charles would kill me." Katrina said with a faint smirk on her lips. Her husband was even stuffier then Quatre but she loved him anyway. "Come and see?"

"Sure, why not." Quatre said with a shrug.

Leading the way through the crowds Katrina kept a firm grip on Quatre's arm as she lead him out of the room and into another where the more expensive sculptures were on display. Stopping only for quick hellos and comments she finally got them to the back of the room where the sculpture in question sat waiting on its pedestal. "Ta da." She announced with a grand gesture, an expecting look on her face as she waited for a reaction.

* * *

Since Katrina had obviously taken a shine to the piece Quatre had expected it to be the gem of the collection. Then again the collection as a whole hadn't interested him terribly so he hadn't expected something like this. Not saying a word he walked over, his eyes taking in every detail as he lifted a hand to touch, to absorb as he studied and appreciated. Mine, was the thought that went through his mind. This was going to be his. "I'll pay whatever is being asked for it."

Blinking in surprise, since she'd really only expected him to at most appreciate it Katrina was tongue tied for a minute. "Uhm..well...we've had several offers on it already..."

"I'll match whatever the highest bid ends up being. But it's mine, Katrina." Quatre said as he briefly looked over his shoulder before turning his attention back to his sculpture. It was about two feet tall and as was the common theme in this artist's work it depicted lovers in the act of showing themselves to be lovers. The difference was that this one didn't scream sex in bold letters as the others did. This cried out love. While the other sculptures he'd looked at had been about the baser needs being satisfied this was about giving and taking, about expressing the love one felt for the other physically. Only a fool could look at it and not crave to know and experience the feelings reflecting in the bodies of the two figures. The way they held each other close, the woman's head tipped back in pleasure while the man's face buried in her neck spoke volumes. Unlike the others this wasn't a big display of either the male or the female body either. In fact that sculpture only showed their upper bodies and they were so close that they shielded the other from view, forming a barrier so that it was only them, in their own little world. As it should be.

* * *

"Okay, this showing continues on till tomorrow afternoon. Whatever is the highest bid at the end of that is what you owe me." Katrina said with a nod, thinking her friend looked very much bestowed with the piece of art. Who would have thought it. Technically she shouldn't be letting him get it so easily, especially given how his bidding would drive up the price but he was her friend as well as a customer who dropped a great deal of money her way. It was always best to keep a client like Quatre happy. Plus once word got out that Senator Winner had bought a piece of art by this artist then interest would mount. Quatre's good taste in the arts was well known in the upper circles.

"All right. I'll add another ten percent to whatever the final bid is." Quatre added absently, looking at her with a knowing smile. "I would have missed this..I got the feeling you were hesitant to bring me over to see it in the first place."

"Lets just say that if I can't have it I'm glad you will." Katrina said with a smile, that ten percent making her smile like a cat. Once she mentioned Senator Winner's interest the price of that sculpture was going to go up very, very nicely. "And since you've secured your prize shouldn't you go find Asia?"

"Oh yeah." Quatre had completely forgotten about her up until now. Come to think of it he had absolutely no idea where she was period. Damn it. "Lets go find her." Taking Katrina's arm the two headed out once again, this time to find Asia which they succeeded in doing five minutes later, having a drink with the artist himself.

* * *

"Hey! There you are." Asia beamed, hurrying over to take Quatre's other arm as she hustled him over to meet her friend. She'd been getting a little worried once she'd lost track of him but someone had said Katrina had wanted to show him something. Given how big the gallery was she'd figured that explained her not being able to even catch a glimpse of him in the crowd. "Quatre, this is Tim. Tim, this is Quatre."

"Senator. It's an honor to meet you. Thanks for coming. Asia's told me so much about you." The artist named Tim said rapidly with a weak smile, obviously nervous as he took the hand Quatre offered. It wasn't every day that you shook hands with a senator after all. Especially one worth billions of dollars who owned liked how many companies and businesses.

"Pleasure, I'm glad Asia dragged me here." Quatre said with his usual charming smile. "I've arranged to purchase one of your pieces, it's going to be one of the gems of my collection."

"You have?" Asia wanted to know, very surprised and struggling to hide it. This sort of stuff was definitely not her boss's cup of tea. Had he bought something just because Tim was her friend?

"Really, I'm flattered." Tim said, wondering the same thing as Asia. On the one hand it was good for business but on the other..it was the principle of the point. "I was under the impression from Katrina that you were more into paintings and older period art."

"Normally yes. Your work in the main gallery didn't have any pieces that caught my eye overly but Katrina took me to see the ones in the other room. That was a different story." Quatre said with an understanding look. He knew what it was to be given things solely because of his name and birth. He'd hated being treated differently, not for his own actions but for the family shadow he walked in.

* * *

"He took one look at "One" and I think his mind blanked out everything else in the room." Katrina said with a reassuring smile in Tim's direction. "I don't think he could even tell you what the other sculptures in the room looked like."

"There were other sculptures?" Quatre asked with an innocent look though in a way it was true. He'd only vaguely noticed that there were other pieces in the room. He'd had eyes for only one.

"You bought "One"?" Tim said in surprise then with a slow look of curiosity. He'd been wondering about Asia dating her boss, whether it was just some sort of fling on both sides. But if this was a man who could be that captured by that particular piece..well maybe this was Asia's match after all.

"I will be once the final offered price from other customers comes in. It's only fair that way." Quatre explained with a faint shrug. "But I'll get it either way."

"What other room? Which piece? Have I seen it?" Asia wanted to know, not knowing what to think. Just what sort of piece was this?

"I don't think you've been in there yet. What's in the main room is my old work while the small room that connects to it hides the stuff I've been making since I met Lola." Tim said, his eyes going all dreamy at the mere saying of her name. "Katrina said they should be separate since they're two different styles."

"Oh. So the ones in this other room aren't like your regular sculptures." Asia said with a smile, understanding now. Obviously the ones in the small room weren't Tim's usual graphic nudes and were something along the lines of the tasteful stuff Quatre liked. She'd never known Tim to do anything that fit under Quatre's definition of real art but hey, there was a first time for everything, right?

"Well it is and it isn't." Tim said with a chuckle. He could practically see the gears turning in Asia's head. Obviously she was worried about just what her boss had purchased. "According to Katrina the newer ones just have an edge the old ones don't."

"An edge?" Asia repeated, not entirely liking the sound of that. She had heard people talking about how Tim's latest work was the best he'd ever done but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. "I think we should go see this sculpture. Now."

* * *

While Katrina was leading the small group to view Tim's latest work a lone figure slipped in and out of the darken streets. The weather was clear for the moment but the weathermen were speculating about rain tonight. He really didn't want to get caught in the rain. He would have driven but the less noise he made the better this would go. After all no one knew exactly what sort of security Senator Winner had because he didn't use a security company. No, whatever little surprises there were had been put in curtesy of the brilliant minds working at Preventers. Any other time he'd have been tempted to give it a go just for the hell of it. But he couldn't risk it, especially since he hadn't been given time to properly case the joint and get an idea of the layout. No, he'd been reduced to delivery boy today though he'd be playing a more active role in a couple of days once he got the go ahead. Hopefully. After all if this broad was paying him this much money to do a simply delivery..well then how much would she pay for something a little more worthy of a man of his skills?

Arriving at the proper driveway he stood looking at the eight foot high rail doors. He had the feeling they were stronger then they looked. Pulling the manila envelope from his backpack the man in black carefully threaded it into the rails to keep it there and then added the rose he'd been told to place with the package. That done he once again shouldered his bag and disappeared into the darkness of which he'd come.

* * *

Driving home Asia still didn't know what to say. "I can't believe you want to buy that sculpture. It's a nude for Christ sakes!"

"I have other nudes in my collection." Quatre pointed out, completely clueless as to what had her all riled up. "And why does the idea of me purchasing something from your artist friend bother you so much? You'd think it would make you happy."

"Yeah but your nudes are tasteful ones that no one but a leach would leer at." Asia argued, gesturing with her hands. "You do know what those figures in the sculpture are doing right? She's not scratching his back for him ya know! She's digging her nails in for an entirely other reason."

"I'd have to be pretty stupid not to know." Quatre said with a raised eyebrow in her direction. She was really perplexing him here. "Do you really think I'm that naive?"

"Well not exactly but...well where the hell are you going to put it?" Asia wanted to know in exasperation. "It's not like it's the sort of art you can display in your living room."

"I don't know, it would make an interesting conversational piece, don't you think?" Quatre teased then had to laugh at the shocked look on her face. "Oh you should see your face." Quatre laughed, the car filling with the rich baritone of it. "This so gets you back for all the things you've done to me these last few weeks. You look like I just told you I was going to do to work in my birthday suit tomorrow."

* * *

"Well you have taken an interest in nudes recently." Asia shot back, sticking her tongue out at him. "But seriously, where are you putting it?"

"I have no idea." Quatre said with a shrug, that being the truth. After all when his nieces and nephews visited they pretty much had free rein around the house. Not that any of them were really old enough to get the point but still. "I don't want to put it with the rest of my collection but you're right in saying it's not a piece that can go just anywhere."

"Your bedroom? Then it would be an appropriate conversational piece." Asia suggested with a smirk, just imaging what one of Quatre's sisters would think walking into his bedroom and seeing that. Then again they'd likely just blame it on her, Asia thought with a chuckle. His sisters tended to have a very black and white view of their brother and rarely saw the grays.

"That could work." Quatre replied thoughtfully, taking the suggestion seriously as he turned a corner with ease. "Not quite sure where in the room but that would make the most sense. I'd have to move some things around though."

"Well when it comes I'll help you." Asia offered with a shake of her head. Then again, when you really thought about it maybe the bedroom was the most logically place to put it. No one ever went in there but Quatre and his servants. Come to that..she doubted many women, if any that weren't related to or hired by Quatre had ever gone in there. Well she had but that was only to talk to him about something. It wasn't like she'd ever gone in there for anything but the most pure of reasons. It was Quatre after all. The idea of them, together in a bedroom for reasons other then just communicating was laughable. Completely, 100 unlikely to happen. Wasn't it? After all she would have said that there was no chance in hell he would ever buy something of Tim's too. The fact that suddenly that percent didn't seem right had Asia looking over at Quatre with a puzzled and searching look on her face. Where had that come from. One minute she'd been thinking there was no way and the next her mind had slyly asked her wasn't it? When had she started to think it was possible?

* * *

"What's with the look on your face?" Quatre wanted to know as he reached out a hand to pat her thigh. "You look like you've just been in a car driven by Duo." He added with a wink.

"Uhm..." Asia said as she looked at that hand like it was some foreign matter, a flush coming to her cheeks. "It's..nothing. Nevermind."

"You aren't still mad about me buying that sculpture for you, are you? You obviously really liked it and Katrina gave me a discount on it since I was already buying "One"." Quatre asked, taking a shot in the dark. Thanks to his sisters he'd long ago learned that when women said nevermind odds were they wanted to talk about something but were determined to make you work for it first.

"No, it's not that. Though I still say you shouldn't have bought it for me. It was seven hundred dollars!"

"You were drooling over it and besides, if you were my girlfriend I would have bought it for you. For that matter I'd have bought it for you anyway." Quatre said with a smile, looking at her with affection in his eyes. "Money doesn't matter to me the way it does to most people I guess. It can't buy me the things I want most but it can buy things to make others happy. If having that sculpture makes you happy then the money I paid doesn't matter to me in the least."


	14. Shift in Views

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the twisted ideas my brain comes up with. Everything else belongs to someone else who hopefully will never waste their time and resources to come after me for what I've done to their characters. Thanks for reading and please review!

Shift in Views

Arriving back at the house they were just pulling up to the gates when Asia pointed out that there was something attached to the gate that looked like a manila envelope. Getting out of the car before Quatre could stop her Asia hurried over to the rails and using the car's lights made out Quatre's name on the front in bold, black script.

"Don't touch it!" Quatre called out, coming up to her side in time to grab her wrist before her hands could slide it out. The rose, which had fallen to the ground remained there, discarded.

"It's addressed to you though." Asia said as she looked over at him, understanding his worry, absently shifting to crush the rose under her heel. One symbol of this hell he was living in that she could do some part to destroy. "If it is from her then it won't be anything to hurt you. At least not yet anyway."

"I won't take that chance with you. I might not be able to dump you in order to protect you but I can make sure that as little of her as possible touches you." Quatre said fiercely, more fiercely then he'd intended as he moved her arm down then letting go reached out with his own hand to remove the envelope. Lifting it up to his eyes Quatre read his own name as a chill went up his spine. Taking a deep breath he lowered the envelop then looked back at her. "Lets get back into the car." Not waiting for her to agree he turned and headed back to the car, getting in without another word.

Following him Asia slid back into her seat without a word either. She knew any words she might have said would have simply fallen on deaf ears. When the gates were open they drove quickly up the driveway and parking in the garage Quatre headed into the house, pausing only to hold the door open for her automatically. Once she was in he headed for the library with Asia quietly walking at his heels.

* * *

Going over to his favorite chair Quatre sat down heavily, watching the flames in the fireplace for several moments before opening the envelope carefully, withdrawing a single sheet of rose scented paper in the palest of pinks. Reading it over a couple time Quatre finally dropped it to his lap, fighting with all his might the overwhelming need to cast it into the fire, to obliterate it forever into nothing more then ash. Damn her. Oh damn her to hell. His hands coming up Quatre buried his face in them, hunched over as if in physical pain.

Rushing over from her spot behind his chair where she'd been reading over his shoulder Asia dropped to her knees in front of him, leaning forward to set her hands on his shoulders. Pulling him closer she hugged him against her, whispering words of comfort as she cuddled him, kissing his head and nuzzling her face against the silky strands as she tried to give him whatever comfort she could. The comfort she was desperate to give him.

* * *

Making an almost keening sound in the back of his throat Quatre shifted, dropping his hands to wrap around her waist as he nuzzled his face into her neck, needing to smell her, feel her with him. Needed the comfort she offered like a starving man needed food and water. His hands digging in hard enough to leave bruises it was as if he were trying to burrow into her, to find refuge from it all inside of her where everything was all right. Where he could at last find peace among all this pain and fear.

Not even feeling the force of his hold Asia was only aware that he needed her now. Stroking his head soothingly Asia closed her eyes, soaking in his pain, taking it into herself and out of his heart. She would gladly have taken every last bit of anguish there if only he would have let her. She would take on whatever burden he would let her.

Finally lifting his head Quatre stared into her eyes, his own stormy with emotion. They were the eyes of someone lost without any idea where they were going or if they'd ever reach shore again. Reaching out Asia took his face between her hands, bringing it forward so that her forehead touched his. Eyes locked together Quatre's hands slowly mirrored hers, coming up to cup her face in his own hands, eye contact never breaking for a millisecond. Both seeming to move at the same time their lips met in a real kiss which would be their first real but not the last caress for that evening. Once his eyes had cleared but for thoughts of the peace she'd unexpectedly brought him Asia broke the contact and taking the letter from him put it aside. Taking his hand she led him upstairs where she got him into bed and tucked him in, once again placing a kiss on his lips, this time in good night. Returning to her own room she changed into her pajamas then went to her bed as well. Tomorrow was soon enough to figure out what to think about what had happened. One thing was certain though. She had no idea yet just how much had changed in those couple of minutes.

* * *

Waking up an hour later Quatre stared into the darkness, his mind feeling unsettled and much too awake to go right back to sleep. Sitting up in his bed he absently rubbed what little sleep there was in his eyes before looking around him. He had no idea when or how he'd gotten to his room, much less into bed. Wait a minute... It all slowly coming back to him Quatre suddenly felt as though Paris had come up from behind and whacked him upside the head the way he was always doing to Duo. His mind going unfortunately clear he could easily remember everything that happened. Falling back against his pillows with a groan he wasn't sure what to think. On the one hand he'd acted like a complete and total baby in front of her. Then again it hadn't seemed to bother her in the least. Remembering how she'd comforted him though brought more color to his cheeks then was totally necessary. That had certainly been taking the whole kiss and make better to another level. And here he'd thought they were just pretty good actors. They sure as hell couldn't have kissed the way they'd done earlier if there wasn't any chemistry between them. Maybe there'd always been and they'd just chosen not to acknowledge it, Quatre considered silently, always trying to be as honest to himself as possible. Perhaps they'd just pushed it aside in the beginning because they were just so different in a lot of ways. Ways that now seemed small and insignificant. He'd kissed his assistant. Heaven help him he had and now all he could think about was doing it again. He'd never felt such a rightness, a sense of joining together as he had with those simply brushes of their lips against each other's. It was as if he'd never been kissed before and everything was new. Those other kisses, the ones where they'd been "pretending" had certainly rocked his system but that had been about lust. Not that he'd ever say or admit to that. He was a gentleman after all. But he was also a perfectly healthy, heterosexual young man in tip top shape and to be frank he'd imagine his assistant could get a reaction out of a dead man if she ever thought to try. He'd simply dismissed those kisses and his reactions to them as biological, something he couldn't be expected to easily control. The kisses tonight, however, had been a completely different story. That hadn't been about lust in the slightest. The question was what exactly was it about? There were plenty of other ways to comfort a person but she'd chosen, they'd chosen, to use that route. To express it that way. Which begged the question, where did that leave them now? More importantly, what were they going to do if their game of make believe suddenly became exactly what it seemed?

* * *

Having spent most of the day with Julian and the kids Catherine had to admit they were quite the trio. The fact that Julian acted the most childish of the bunch had at first a source of amazement to her but then he was just full of surprises. Plus the kids were too serious for their age, too use to having a heavy hand if she wasn't mistaken. They asked permission before they did anything and they never questioned you, even when she got the feeling they wanted to. It wasn't Julian that was the problem though since he quite simply was happy enough to spoil and let them run wild. They didn't talk about home either or wishing a parent was with them. They seemed thrilled and content to simply be near Julian which made her wonder what their parents must be like. While Julian had been playing with the Ferris Wheel she'd casually asked the boy if their father was anything like Julian and the boy had looked so solemn when he'd shook his head and said that they were nothing alike. The look in his eyes, she'd wanted to hug him and not stop until he asked her to.

Sighing at the thought she looked at the children as they all headed out of the hotel's dinning room after thoroughly pigging out on the most decadent desserts she'd ever seen much less eaten. They'd had dinner at a more kid's oriented restaurant but they'd opted to come back here for real desserts. Now that they'd finished gorging themselves it was time for her to head back. Thankfully she'd had to meet them at the restaurant and so she had a car to get back with rather then make Julian and the kids drive her back.

* * *

"Hey, Catherine...would you..you like to see Mr. Leo?" Elizabeth asked shyly, already looking like she regretted asking which of course sealed Catherine's answer right then and there.

"Sure, I'd love to." Catherine said with a smile, though she was tired and more then ready to go to bed. But she'd make time because it was obvious most didn't in Elizabeth's world. If coming up to the hotel room to see the girl's favorite stuffed animal would make her happy then she'd damn well go up and see the stuffed animal.

"Well then I guess we better head up so that Catherine can get back before it gets too late. We want her to get back in one piece after all." Julian said cheerfully, sending Catherine a grateful look. People in the set his brother traveled in didn't see children as worth their time until they were old enough to be of use to their parents. One might buy their child a stuffed animal but he wasn't going to go out of his way to see it just because his child asked him to. He doubted his brother even knew the names of any of his children's toys. Heading to the elevator they got in with the children between them. Pressing the button for the eighth floor they headed up being stopped on the fifth to let an elderly couple on.

* * *

"What adorable children you have." The older woman said as she beamed at Elizabeth and Grayson before looking at Catherine and Julian.

It slowly sinking it that this woman thought Catherine was the mother and Julian the father in this little party Catherine's cheeks pinked while Julian was just delighted at the idea that such a mistake could be make. "They are, aren't they?" Julian agreed pleasantly, beaming at the woman. "I've always said so."

Shy Elizabeth turned her face into Catherine's leg, her cheeks flushed at the idea of Catherine being her mother while Grayson didn't know what to say. He'd always wished that his Uncle Julian was his father but being mistaken for Catherine's son? She was a lot of fun though and Uncle Julian liked her a lot. Looking over at Catherine he saw that she was blushing too. Didn't she like the idea or was she just embarrassed that Uncle Julian hadn't corrected the woman's wrong assumption?

Before anyone could say anything else they were on the eighth floor and everyone trooping out, Julian nodded politely to the couple as the doors closed behind them. No one commenting they made their way to the room and pulling out his card Julian unlocked the door and held it open for the other three to walk in.

Jaw dropping Catherine looked around at the room which looked more like a luxurious apartment then a hotel room. There was a living room area at the end of the hallway that then branched out on either side into two other hallways. Jesus, just how rich was Julian, Catherine thought as she looked over at Julian as he closed the door behind him.

"This way." Elizabeth told her as she took Catherine's hand, leading her to the end of the hallway then veering left to head to the room she was sharing with her brother. Opening her door she quickly made her way over to pick up the somewhat raggedy stuffed lion propped up against her pillow. The sheets were satin and the bed was big enough for four Elizabeths. "This is Mr. Leo." Elizabeth said shyly as she brought it other to Catherine.

* * *

"Well hello, Mr. Leo." Catherine said as she carefully took the lion from Elizabeth, making a show of giving him a thorough look over. "Well isn't he a handsome king."

"A king?" Elizabeth repeated, giving Catherine a confused look.

"She means that lions are considered the kings of the jungle, poppet." Julian explained with a tender pat on the head. "In other words you could even call Mr. Leo King Leo instead if you wanted to."

"I could?" Having to consider this idea Elizabeth chewed absently on her bottom lip as she mulled the idea over. "Well maybe..I'll have to think about." She finally decided, casting a weary look in Catherine's direction like she was afraid that her uncle's friend would be upset with her for not automatically agreeing with her.

"That sounds like a very good idea." Catherine said with an easy smile, a smile Elizabeth quickly returned. "Such an important decision as the naming of someone special should never be taken lightly. I know that I have to give it a lot of thought before I'll name any of my animals too."

"Most definitely. I wish my parents had done that when they named me." Julian said with a wink that had Elizabeth giggling and Grayson fighting back a laugh of his own. His family was known for weird names after all.

"I don't know about that. I think Julian's a really nice name. Definitely more original then Catherine anyway."

Happy that she liked it Julian smiled at her brightly. Maybe she wasn't in love with him yet but she liked him and his name. That was a good start, wasn't it? "Oh no, you have a beautiful name, Catherine, it suits you."

* * *

"It does, does it? And how exactly did you come to that conclusion. For that matter I don't even know what it means."

"It means pure." Julian told her promptly having looked it up.

"How would you know that when I don't?" Catherine demanded to know, her eyes narrowing slightly as they pinned Julian in a strong hold.

"Well uh...a friend of mine was considering that name for her baby. I just remembered it because it was such a beautiful name and I wanted to remember it in case I ever had children?" Julian replied weakly, trying to smile at her which wasn't exactly easy. His love had one hell of a piercing look. It was gonna be hard in the future to fib around her. Good thing he rarely lied, considering it ungentlemanly.

"Oh." Catherine said, deciding that was a reasonable answer.

"Uncle Julian?" Grayson said hesitantly, nervously biting his bottom lip as the two adults turned their heads to look over at him questioningly. "I think I dropped my watch somewhere in the restaurant. Can I go look for it, please? I'm sure I'll find it."

"We'll go look for it. If Catherine doesn't mind staying here to watch Elizabeth while we men look." Julian said with an easy smile, understanding his nephew's nerves. His brother would have flipped out at Grayson for losing the watch. "Okay with you, Catherine?"

* * *

"Sure, fine." Catherine said with an encouraging smile in Grayson's direction. Julian herding Grayson out of the room Catherine waited till she heard the door slam before she turned back to her new charge. "So, time for you to get ready for bed I think."

"Yup, yup." Elizabeth said brightly though her eyes kept straying towards the door the two had just exited. The look in them was worried.

"What's wrong?" Catherine wanted to know, picking Elizabeth up and settling the girl on her lap. "And don't tell me nothing because I can see there's something worrying you. Is it Grayson's watch? I'm sure they'll find it and if not it's just a watch. He can get a new one."

"But not that watch." Elizabeth said quietly, looking somehow smaller and more vulnerable now then she had moments before. "Grandfather gave him that watch. If he loses it father will get really angry. Grayson will get punished. I don't like when father yells at him."

"I'm sure he'll understand that Grayson didn't do it on purpose." Catherine assured, not liking Elizabeth's tone of voice at all.

"He won't. He's not even supposed to know that we're here with Uncle Julian. If he knew we'd be in lots of trouble. Our Father hates Uncle Julian a lot."


	15. Trowa's Fine Ass

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot ideas I come up with. Thanks to all those who continue to read and review, I hope you continue to do so. I really love hearing from you guys. Have a great day and enjoy!

Trowa's Fine Ass

Slumped in his chair Quatre stared at Trowa pleadingly, looking for advice. He'd just told Trowa everything, EVERYTHING that had happened the night before and now he wanted to know what Trowa thought.

Uncomfortable under Quatre's stare a lesser man then Trowa would have been squirming. "Well you know I can give you an opinion about the contents of the envelope but I don't see how I can be of any help to you when it comes to Asia. You have more dating experience then I do."

"Yeah but you get people. You're my best friend, Trowa. No one knows me better then you do." Quatre reasoned, his eyes never leaving Trowa's. "She hasn't said anything and I don't know what to say. Everything I've come up with sounds stupid or could be taken the wrong way."

"Well you could just ask her flat out if she wants to get involved with you on a personal level for real." Trowa began hesitantly, feeling like he was skating along thin ice. Hell, he felt like he was stomping on it. He was just no good at this sorts of thing. That was what Duo was for. Then again you only went to Duo for ideas as to how to make up with a girl. That was really only where his advise was sound. "You are the guy after all. Women usually tend to be stubborn about waiting for the guy to make the first move."

"Why can't they do it. They're the stronger sex. Any one who says different is in denial." Quatre groaned, slumping further in his seat. "I can't just go up to her and ask her to date me for real. Someone's trying to kill her for just pretending to do that!"

* * *

"That's true but I don't think she'd go so far to comfort you if she wasn't interested, Quatre." Trowa reasoned, trying to look at this logically. "She could have just given you a pep talk or hug."

"I don't know who started it though. I think I might have and then maybe she was just kissing me back out of pity."

"I think that would be taking pity a little too far. Besides that, would she be nervous around you if it hadn't meant anything? But I suppose if you really wanted to know we could just go and eavesdrop on her and Sue Ling." Trowa suggested with a shrug, throwing the idea out for consideration.

"What do you mean, eavesdrop on them?"

"They're women. There's nothing they like to do more then gossip, especially when it comes to men, sex and clothes. This would include two of the three so I would think it would be high on the discussion itinerary." Was Trowa's reply, a faint smirk on his face as he watched Quatre go from a depressed slump to shocked alertness.

"We can't do that! That would be an invasion of privacy."

"Actually it comes down to how much you want to know about how she really feels about you." Trowa pointed out, not surprised that Quatre was against the idea. He would have been shocked otherwise. Quatre was just too polite to listen to gossip normally, much less actually listen in on it.

"Okay..fine. Lets go."

"Go where?"

"To eavesdrop." Quatre said firmly as he grabbed Trowa's arm and dragged the shocked and surprised pilot behind him as they left the den and headed up the stairs, the kitchen door their destination.

* * *

"So I don't know what to do, Sue Ling." Asia explained from her seat as she watched Sue Ling beat up some yeasty smelling dough that was going to be bread later. The counter between them was covered with various ingredients, bowls and the flour coated board her friend was rolling the dough on.

"I'd think it was pretty obvious." Sue Ling said, never looking up from her bread. "Either you pursue him or you back off. Simple."

"It is not that simple. I have to work with him!" Asia argued, frowning at the answer and the fact that Sue Ling wasn't giving her her full attention. "What happens if we have a flaming affair and it doesn't work out? I'll end up having to quit the best job in the world AND we might not be able to be friends either."

"I didn't suggest you have an affair with him." Sue Ling pointed out patiently as she continued to knead her bread. "What I said was you had to decide whether you wanted to pursue a relationship with him or not. Quatre isn't the type to have an affair and if you go in thinking that then it really will blow up in your face. If you get involved with him then you have to realize that he'll be taking it seriously."

"What do you mean..taking it seriously?" Asia asked hesitantly, not sure she liked the sound of that at all.

"I mean that he isn't the type to settle for just your body. He'll want to have you mind, body and spirit. In other words don't go snuggling into his lap unless you want to seriously consider doing that for the next fifty years or so."

* * *

"I can't decide whether to be insulted or take that as a compliment." Quatre muttered, crouched outside the door while Trowa leaned against the wall, watching his best friend with more then a little amusement now that he'd gotten over the shock of what they were doing.

Listening to Asia babble for a moment Trowa paused then answered Quatre. "Well at least she's thinking about going out with you. Sue Ling just suggested the long term possibilities and she didn't faint either. Those are good signs."

"Yeah but she's also freaking out at the idea of anything between us being serious." Quatre pointed out, looking close to slipping back into his depressive slump.

"I think that's a good sign though. If she'd just brushed it off like it was no big deal then she obviously wouldn't be seriously considering it. Looking at a relationship as a possible future till death do us part should scare everybody."

"Does it scare you?" Quatre wanted to know, tuning the girls out for a moment to look up at Trowa questioningly. This was Trowa after all.

"Seeing as I don't date and have no interest in dating it rarely crosses my mind." Was his dry response. "But I suppose that if I got serious about a girl then yes, I would probably be scared at the idea of agreeing to spend the rest of my life with someone."

"Good to know I'm not the only one." Quatre said with a smile before turning back to his eavesdropping. It was surprisingly fun and he couldn't remember at the moment why he'd never done this before. Oh yeah, because his sisters would dress him up in their old clothes if they caught him listening in on their conversations. They'd been evil that way.

* * *

"...but I really like him so maybe I should start something? But he's old fashioned..what if he thinks I'm loose or something?" Asia was saying as the boys tuned in once more. "I mean I've met all the girls he's dated and the more like him they were the longer they stuck around. I'm nothing like him when it comes to my dating habits!"

"Having never dated him I wouldn't know." Was Sue Ling's dry response as she grabbed the pans for her loaves.

"Would you date him? You've never had a date with any guy since I've known you and I've never seen you even look twice at a good looking guy. Hell you live with Trowa." Asia said in exasperation, thinking that coming to Sue Ling for advice might not have been one of her better ideas.

"What's Trowa got to do with anything?" Sue Ling wanted to know, puzzled enough to set aside her pans to give Asia her complete attention for the first time since her friend had stormed into the kitchen.

"The fact that he's six foot three inches of gorgeous male is the point." Asia informed her, not aware that outside the door there were two men in varying states of complete and total horrified shock. "I mean have you looked at his ass lately?"

"I thought you were interested in Quatre." Sue Ling demanded, not liking this sudden interest in Trowa at all. Asia and Trowa would never work. There were thousands of good reasons why it was a bad idea and as Asia's friend she was going to bring up every single one of them if necessary.

"I am interested in Quatre. That doesn't mean that I haven't noticed how great Trowa's ass is. Every woman notices Trowa's butt. Blind women instinctively notice that butt even if they can't see how great it is." Asia said with a laugh, enjoying the fact that she was flustering the unflusterable Sue Ling. "You cannot look me in the eye and tell me you haven't noticed."

* * *

Both men now straining with everything they had to hear every word Trowa wasn't sure what he wanted to hear. On the one hand all this talk about his ass was freaking him out more then a little. It was his ass for Christ sakes. Everyone had one. What the hell was so great about his? On the other hand...he wanted to know what Sue Ling thought of it too.

* * *

"Quatre has prettier eyes." Sue Ling pointed out, trying to evade admitting that she had, upon occasion, discreetly admired Trowa's very fine rear end.

"True, he does, doesn't he? Like the most perfect summer day." Asia said with a dreamy sigh before snapping of her friend's little maneuver. "And you didn't answer my question, Ling. And don't lie, you never lie but just to make it clear you can't lie. I'm your friend after all and I won't tell anyone.

"Well it's like you said, isn't it?" Sue Ling said finally, a small smile playing over her lips for a moment. "Every woman notices."

Laughing delightedly Asia waited till Sue Ling had put the loaves into the oven and set the time before she asked another question. "So what do you think Quatre's best feature is?"

"I like his smile." Sue Ling said after taking a moment to think it over. "When he smiles things just seem a little better. He doesn't have my preferred physical physic but he's not bad in that area by any means. Over all I'd have to say a person would have to try hard to come up with a serious complaint about him."

"I like his build." Asia put in, defending her boss and possible future more then that. "It's like a swimmer or a runner's build. He may wear sorta girlie clothes sometimes but he's all male under them."

"And you would know this how?" Sue Ling wanted to know, raising an eyebrow as she turned her attention to cleaning up the mess she'd made on the counter.

"Well he was so out of it I undressed him down to his boxers last night. He has a really nice chest. It needs some contact with the sun though. Maybe after this whole mess is cleared up I can talk him into a vacation." Asia answered as she got off her stool to help Sue Ling put some of the stuff away. "His arms are actually pretty well muscled, just not obviously so."

"All the men in this family are like that." Sue Ling pointed out as she washed her hands in the sink before patting them dry on one of the hand towels. "Well muscled but on the slender side. I doubt you could find an inch of fat among them."

* * *

"Do all women talk about men like this?" Trowa whispered to Quatre, figuring with over twenty sisters Quatre would know. He'd never really paid attention to the gossip of women before but this conversation was getting to be a real eye opener.

"I guess I could use a tan." Quatre was muttering, blinking when he realized Trowa had said something when his friend looked at him expectantly. When Trowa repeated his question Quatre had to nod. "Pretty much. They sure like you though." He added, sending Trowa an annoyed look.

"It's not my fault they like my ass." Trowa hissed back, a hint of blush on his taunt cheek bones. He was really regretting the fact that he'd suggested this now. How could it have come back to bite him in the ass like this? And why did his ass keep coming into the mix, Trowa thought bad temperedly. "And she said she liked your build so quit pouting."

"I am not pouting." Quatre muttered back, well aware that he was lying through his teeth.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Wufei wanted to know as he came into the hallway, blinking at the sight of Trowa and Quatre huddling in front of the kitchen door like a couple of school children.

Backing away from the door like it was on fire Quatre and Trowa walked towards Wufei like they hadn't just been eavesdropping on the girls. "We were...trying to figure out what kind of wood the door was made of." Quatre said stiffly after it didn't appear that the girls intended to come out and see what was going on.

"And you'd want to know that why?" Wufei asked, sending Quatre a what's wrong with you look. Duo wasn't allowed in the kitchen since Sue Ling had moved in but maybe, somehow the baka had managed to sneak in there and make something. Something Quatre had been too polite to refuse testing. Then again that wouldn't explain Trowa being weird too.

"Because...because it's really nice wood." Quatre said dumbly, not able to come up with something better.

"Okay..." Wufei said slowly then shaking his head walked past them and opening the door to the kitchen slipped in, closing the door behind him.

* * *

"Hi, Wufei." Asia said cheerfully, waving at him from her seat on the stool while Sue Ling continued to break up sliced bread for her dressing for Thanksgiving dinner. "What's with the look on your face?"

"Trowa and Quatre are acting weird." Wufei told them as he walked over to the fridge, opening it up to peer inside. One of the best things about Sue Ling moving in was that the fridge was always full and not just with junk food. It was nice to have some choice, Wufei thought as he rustled around before choosing an orange.

"They were fine when they went down to the den." Asia said with a a frown, her gaze turning towards the door. They'd only been here a half an hour at most. Quatre had been fine at breakfast. "Maybe I should go and check on them. Did they look sick or something? They didn't eat anything Duo made, did they?"

"Duo isn't allowed to cook anymore." Sue Ling said stiffly, trying not to think of the examples of Duo's cooking she'd had the misfortune to encounter. She'd had to bar him from cooking for the well being of everyone and to preserve the kitchen from Duo's biological weapons disguised as burnt food.

"I don't think they're sick." Wufei said with a frown, tossing the orange from hand to hand as he absently shut the fridge door with his back. Walking over to the sink to peel it Wufei tried to figure out how to put it. "I think they might be up to something but I have no clue what. Something was bugging them though. That much was obvious."

* * *

"If he tells them he caught us eavesdropping we'll never live it down." Quatre moaned as he flopped into his chair, Trowa flopping down beside him. "Do you think Wufei realized what we were doing."

"Not at the moment, he might later though." Trowa said with a sigh, his turn to slump dejectedly. He should have never let Quatre drag him along. This was going to end badly. He could feel it in his bones. "We can only hope that since it was you Wufei will discount eavesdropping as being too ungentlemanly for you."

"If they find out what we did...what do you think they'll do to us?" Quatre wanted to know, sending Trowa a miserable look. Women were really mean after all. Especially when they were embarrassed. He had a feeling that conversation was high on their not wanting anyone to overhear list. "I mean Asia would think it's funny and tease us about it but I don't know about Sue Ling."

"I don't know. Somehow I can't see her thinking it's funny though." Trowa answered, picturing his perfectly ironed clothes, delicious meals and clean house going bye bye. Things had become about as perfect as could be expected with Duo and Julian in the house. Oh please God let Wufei keep his mouth shut about this, Trowa pleaded mentally.

* * *

"Well at least she likes you. Maybe she'll go easy on you?" Quatre suggested, patting his best friend on the shoulder sympathetically. After all, Trowa was the one living with Sue Ling. Plus Ling did all the meals and stuff around the house. In other words she had plenty of opportunities to make Trowa's life a living hell if she wanted to.

"You think she likes me?" Trowa asked, turning to look at Quatre questioningly.

Confused since Sue Ling and Trowa got along pretty well it took a moment for his mind to compute the fact that Trowa was asking if Sue Ling really liked him. As in liked, liked as they'd put it as kids. "Uhm...do you want her to?"


	16. At Least One

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them all in. Thanks to all my readers and especially to those who review. Remember, the more reviews the more likely I am to update!

At Least One

Trowa could have kissed Asia when she came rushing in, going straight for Quatre while Wufei wandered in behind her with a bemused expression on his face. "Are you two okay?" Asia demanded to know, reaching out a hand to place against Quatre's forehead, putting the other to her own to compare. "Wufei said you two were acting strange. You didn't make anything Duo made, did you? You know you aren't supposed to do that!"

"No...we just...we're just hungry!" Quatre announced, smiling at her almost hopefully, mentally pleading with her to believe him. Okay, so it was a weak excuse, so sue him. He could certainly afford it more than their wrath!

"Oh." Asia said with a sheepish look on her face as she dropped her hands to her side, embarrassed that she'd overreacted.

"Sue Ling is making bread?" Trowa asked, deciding that a change of subject was the best course of action. It looked like they were safe and better not to push their luck with that weak lie.

"Oh, yeah. She said it will be ready for dinner." Asia said with a smile, unsure what to do with herself now. Damn it, she hadn't even tried to jump him and already they were doing the awkward silences, Asia thought with a wry smile, cursing her luck with men. Specifically her bad luck. "So what are you guys talking about?" She asked, doing some topic changing of her own.

* * *

"Uhm...how nice it is to..have women around the house." Quatre said with a faint blush coming to his cheeks as the two tried not to look at each other which just made their situation that much more obvious to Trowa and Wufei's personal amusement. Better than television any day.

"Well I'm no where near Sue Ling's league. She's Superwoman as far as I'm concerned. I can't find anything she can't do if she sets her mind to it. The fact that she likes doing it is even weirder." With a chuckle Asia took a seat across from the guys since there wasn't room on the couch even though Quatre's lap was looking awfully comfortable. But no, there was no way she was trying that until she was sure just where they stood with each other now.

"You've known her for a long time?" Wufei asked, taking a seat beside Asia, a plate with his orange slices on his lap.

"Well it seems like that. I don't know really anything about her past if that's where you're going with this. She never talks about her life before she met Paris and I don't think even he knows more than the very bare basics. All I know is that they met while he was at an army compound with plans to blow it up. Apparently soldiers were after her and another man for some reason, the man with her shot her in order to get away cleanly. She won't even tell us who he was to her..but I think he was someone important. That's just a guess though." Nipping one of Wufei's slices off his plate she had bit off a piece even before his mouth opened to protest. Winking Asia grinned at him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Wufei said dryly, a considering look on his face. So she was Chinese and around their age from the looks of her. He knew better than to ask any woman what her age was and he kept forgetting to ask Julian or Paris. If they even knew. It looked like Sue Ling didn't want anyone having even the more trivial knowledge of her life. And wasn't that just interesting. He'd always liked a good puzzle. "But I can see why you'd think whoever betrayed her was close to her. She doesn't look like the type who would team up with just anyone. She doesn't strike me as the team player sort."

* * *

"She's not that bad." Quatre argued, frowning at Wufei. "And if this man was someone important she has good reason to be on the defensive with others. We all would if someone we cared about us sacrificed our life like that for their own benefit."

"Well I'm going to go grab something to eat." Trowa said as he got up, having surmised that no one here knew more then he did about the female member of his household. Now he had to insure that that flimsy excuse of Quatre's stuck. Plus that orange really was making him hungry, not to mention the smell of the baking bread that was waffling down from the kitchen. "I'll bring you down something Quatre." He added, since Quatre had apparently already forgotten his excuse. No big surprise there.

"Oh yeah, thanks." Quatre said with a rueful smile. Good thing Trowa had remembered.

Heading up the stairs Trowa went down the hallway and opening the door walked into the kitchen to find Sue Ling at the sinks, washing the dishes she'd used already. "The bread smells good." Trowa said as he inhaled the tantalizing smell. If she had or did hear the truth it was better to butter her up now than wait until the axe started to fall for his neck. Not that it would probably work on Sue Ling but it couldn't hurt either. Just in case.

"It does." Sue Ling agreed, reaching for a towel to dry her hands as she turned to face him. "Can I get you something?"

"I was just coming to get something for Quatre and I to snack on until dinner time."

"I thought so." Sue Ling said as she set the towel down as she walked over to the fridge. "How hungry are you two?"

"You really don't have to make us up anything." Trowa protested, even as she began rustling around in the fridge. Even knowing from past experience that his protests were going to be falling on deaf ears he felt obligated to at least try. "We'll be fine with pretzels or something, honest."

* * *

Looking around the door of the fridge long enough to give him a look that said not to argue she quickly got out what she was looking for. Setting the container of dip on the counter she got out a plate and setting it on the cupboard headed over to the area where she'd set aside a round loaf of brown bread for just this occasion. Uncovering it she set it on the cutting board. "Can you hand me the bread knife?" She asked, since Trowa had moved over to see what she was doing.

Retrieving the knife she'd indicated he handed it over and watched her slice up the bread with a speed and accuracy that had him thankful his hands were in his pockets and no where near that blade. She'd have cut them all off before either of them realized it, she was that fast. Arranging the perfect slices of bread around the plate she removed the top of the dip, setting the container in the middle so that it resembled a brown flower. And this was in mere minutes, Trowa thought, always impressed by this sort of thing even as he marveled at the pointlessness of it all. It wasn't like it was going to stay that pretty very long. "Thanks." He said instead, knowing his manners as he accepted the plate from her as she covered what was left of the loaf. "Come down and share it with us? Those can soak, right?"

Pausing Sue Ling opened her mouth to decline. "All right." Her mouth said, even as her mind demanded to know what the hell she was doing. It was just that he so rarely ask for anything, not to mention he was the neatest and most well behaved of the men she now took care of. If he wanted to her to come then it would be rude to decline when the dishes really could wait. At least that was her excuse and she was standing by it.

Pleased, Trowa walked over to the door, holding it open for her. Following after her the two headed down the hallway and the stairs to enjoy some food and friends. With these particular friends it was bound to be interesting anyway.

* * *

"So are you going to tell me what that note said now? I know you told the guys and I'm just as much involved as they are. In fact, since I'm likely in that note I'm even more involved than they are." Asia argued as they headed home hours later. Turning in her seat to face Quatre she pushed aside all the other stuff from her mind to concentrate on nagging Quatre into telling her what the note said. Everything else could wait, this couldn't. It had to have been pretty bad and she had a right to know regardless of what he thought.

"For the last time, no. I'm not going to tell you and that's that." Quatre replied, looking at her out of the corner of his eye wearily. "Yes it involves you but the fewer people that have to be exposed to that..filth, .the better. You don't have to read it so you won't."

Sticking her bottom lip out in a pout Asia glared at him. "If I was a guy you'd show me."

"If you were a guy then I'd be gay." Was his dry response, taking a moment to meet her eyes before turning his attention back to the road.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Asia said with a grin, biting her bottom lip to hold back a giggle. That had to be one of the weirdest compliments she'd ever gotten, not that he'd probably intended it to be. "After all, it's not every day that a girl meets a straight guy who tell her that if she were a man he'd still want her."

Sending her a look that made it clear he didn't appreciate the comment he turned his attention back to driving, aware that she was still watching him like a cat backing a mouse into a nice corner. She wanted to know what that note said and he was beginning to get the feeling she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Telling her no was damn hard as it was without her pulling out her wiles. She knew it too, going all big, misty eyed on him.

"What do I have to do to get you to tell me?" Asia finally asked, giving him her best sex kitten look as she pouted at him, enjoying the visible gulp he took when he looked over at her. Thought that would do it, she thought to herself as she pushed him that much further off kilter. "Please, Quatre" She continued, drawing out the words. "I'll do ANYTHING if you'll tell me."

* * *

Instantly his head began turning around various things that could fall under that anything category, causing his eyes to take on a slightly glazed look as most of his blood and ability to think went south. Fingers flexing before gripping the steering wheel in a death grip Quatre turned his head to face front, all his energy going to trying to see what was in front of him. Don't think about it, don't think about it, he chanted inside his head desperately as he called upon every shred of control he possessed to keep them on the road. "I'll think about it." He said in desperation when she laid a hand on his thigh, asking him if he was all right. She was playing him and damn it, if they weren't in a car and he wasn't driving he just might have... "Asia...unless you want to get into a car wreck that has nothing to do with my stalker...take your hand off my thigh please."

Removing her hand Asia blinked in surprise. She'd just been playing with him, knowing him well enough to know that he knew she was playing up to him. Apparently the recent change in their relationship had changed all that now. What would have once been a joke between them was now a serious possibility. "I'm sorry." Asia said quietly, setting her hand in her lap, her cheeks for once being the ones to color in embarrassment. "I wasn't thinking."

"Lets just say that we've reached a point in our relationship where that isn't advisable unless you're serious."

Eyes going huge Asia turned to look at him, her mouth slightly open as though she wanted to say something but couldn't. "And if I was serious?" She couldn't help but ask. Damn her insatiable curiosity.

"Then I need to pull this car over first before I get us both killed." Was his dead serious response as he risk another quick look in her direction. "Those looks of yours were deadly enough BEFORE I knew what I was getting into."

"What do you mean, before you knew what you were getting into." She wanted to know.

* * *

In answer Quatre surprised them both by pulling over to the side of the road about two blocks from the house. Shutting off the engine he released his seat belt then did the same to hers without a word. Reaching over he slid a hand around her head to cup the back of it, pulling her over so that they were almost nose to nose. "Before I realized that once I got a taste of you I wouldn't be able to think of anything but getting more." Closing the gap between them Quatre crushed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss that left no doubt as to just what effect her words had had on him. Whatever else he was he was still a man and it was time she realized that. Yesterday she'd made her move and now he was giving her his answer to what he wanted as a result. The ball was now in her court, to do with what she pleased.

Her fingers digging into the soft cashmere of Quatre's coat Asia hung on for what seemed like dear life as he literally ravaged her mouth. Who knew, she thought with a low moan as she melted against him, shifting impatiently within their narrow confines to try and get closer. His own hands were wrapped around her waist as he half dragged her onto his lap, his mouth leaving hers to travel along her jaw before moving to her neck. Murmuring his name her hands moved to slide into his hair, holding on as if to keep him there.

* * *

Reaching the spot where her coat cut off his access to her skin Quatre cursed in Arabic under his breath. The material, along with the lack of room, was a reminder of just how this was not the time or place. Lifting his head he felt a rush of male satisfaction when he found her eyes half closed, clouded with passion and heat. For him. Placing a kiss on the lips he'd bruised he whispered her name against the sensitive flesh before pulling away slightly. "I'm trying to think of something to say..but nothing's coming to mind." He said softly, closing his eyes slightly in sensual enjoyment as she slowly withdrew her fingers from his hair.

"Me neither." Was her slightly breathless reply, her eyes slowly widening as they met his. "But I really hope we do that again, minus the coats."

An almost rakish grin sliding across his face Quatre reached out and stroked a finger against her cheek. "Oh I think we can count on that." Waiting until she moved back into her seat he once again buckled her in then doing the same for himself turned the car back on, pulling out to complete the remaining two blocks. Breathing a sigh of relief he hadn't even known he was holding he stared at the bare, noteless gates as they opened soundlessly to admit them. Driving through he closed the gates behind them, driving up the drive to park inside the waiting garage. Getting out of the car Quatre headed around it to Asia's side, opening her door and holding out a hand to help her out.

"Thank you." Asia said with a smile as she took his hand, sliding her arm into his as he closed the door behind her. Arm and arm they headed for the door that led from the garage to the main house.

* * *

Neither saying a word to the other it was pretty obvious to even the dimmest person that something had happened. Quatre's butler certainly wasn't dim and so he watched them both with interest as they took off their coats and handed them over to him. Laying them over his arm he returned their good nights, watching them head for the stairs.

"How does he always know exactly when we get back? I mean no matter what time of the day he's always, always there to meet us at whatever door we're coming in." Asia pointed out, looking back over her shoulder though the older man had, as was his habit, disappeared from sight once he was no longer needed.

"I don't know, I've gotten used to it by now." Quatre replied as they walked up the stair case that led to the second level.

"It's sorta unnerving but cool at the same time."

"That's one way to put it." Quatre agreed as they reached the top, turning to the right as they headed down the corridor that led to their rooms. Tensing slightly he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Have lunch with me tomorrow?"

"We're living in the same house, Quatre. Eating lunch with you is pretty much a given." Asia pointed out with a smirk.

"I mean go out for lunch with me." Quatre corrected, doing his best to hide his nerves now that he'd said it.

"But why? Especially since it's Thanksgiving tomorrow. We've got that huge supper to look forward to and odds are barely anything is going to be open anyway."

"Because." Quatre answered as he turned to face her as they reached their doors, moving closer as his hand came up to gently cup her cheek. "With the way things have been going on between us...I'd like to at least say we got in one date first."


	17. Stopping Traffic

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I've put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else so remember to give the credit where it's due! Thanks for reading and please, please review!

Stopping Traffic

Sitting in a board meeting with everyone Quatre couldn't remember ever being more bored. They were sitting around debating policies with the bigwigs and as usual the various senators and businessmen wanted to change Preventers' policies to suit them better rather then the world in general. Nothing they were suggesting was going to happen of course but the assholes never stopped trying. Yesterday he'd been enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with his best friends and the girl he was rapidly beginning to think might be the one for him. Now he was stuck here and wishing he'd gone into another profession after the war had ended. His businesses generated enough paperwork and boredom as it was. Finally it was over and Lady Une was seeing them out the door before leaving her assistant to see them out. Coming back into the room she dropped into her seat with a groan. "One of these days I'm going to put hits out on every one of them." Lady Une muttered, dropping her tired face into her hands. "No one would ever prove it was me. I have the best soldiers and they're all overfed morons anyway."

"I'd even volunteer to do a few of them myself." Paris agreed, running a hand through his messy brown hair. As head of security he'd been obligated to come and didn't appreciate it one bit. He could only hope Lady Une found someone else to take over the job soon so that he could turn his attentions to the family business.

"Definitely no great loss to humanity." Milliardo put in, turning his head when there was a loud knock on the door.

With Lady Une's permission her secretary walked in looking more than a little strained around the edges. "I'm really sorry to interrupt but there's a woman on the phone who says she has to speak to Senator Winner. Since Asia was on lunch the call was forwarded up here when the caller insisted it was a matter of life and death. I tried to find out more details but she refused to say anything else. She says she'll only talk to you, sir." She added, turning to look at Quatre.

"Patch it in here then." Quatre told her, the beginning of worry coming into his eyes. Could this have something to do with his stalker and Asia?

* * *

Surprised when she turned the main viewing screen on Quatre couldn't shake his growing feeling of uneasiness. Why would someone who'd refused to so much as give a name chose to talk to him this way? He'd be able to see who she was after all and that didn't fit with her actions thus far. Leaving the rest to her boss in case it was something important Lady Une's secretary beat a hasty retreat, Lady Une waiting until the woman was out of the room before she connected the machine to the outside link that had been put on hold. "That's strange, something must be wrong." The screen was completely black and yet everything said that it was working properly.

"Hello?" Quatre called out, just in case this was all deliberate. He definitely had a bad feeling about all this.

"I saw you." Came a hissing voice, definitely female as every word spoken dripped with hatred and insanity. "I saw you two together. I told you, again and again I told you that she's no good. She's evil, Quatre. A worthless street whore that's bewitched you, blinded you to what she truly is. Why don't you understand that? Why don't you see me? You never see me. See that we're meant to be together, that we're two sides of the same coin. You don't understand that we're meant to be together. But you will soon. Soon her magic will be lifted and you'll finally be able to see me. Then we'll be together and no one will ever separate us again."

"How can I see you if you won't show yourself." Quatre asked, doing his best to keep his emotions and voice under control. "Won't you tell me your name? Maybe I do see you and you just don't know it."

"No, no I can't. If I tell you she'll confuse you, make you think I'm the enemy. She'll try to turn you against me!"

"No, no she won't. I promise."

"No, NO, NO! You don't understand. But I'll make you see. I'll MAKE you understand. She has to go away, she has to be taken out of the equation. I'll show you." On cue the screen suddenly sprang to life and Quatre stared in horror as he recognized one of the Preventers parking lots. Instinctively looking at the clock he felt his blood run cold. Asia should be coming back with Duo from lunch anytime now. That was the level Duo parked on. "What are you going to do!"

"I'm going to kill the witch."

* * *

"God I'm stuffed." Duo announced as he pulled into his parking spot, turning off the engine as he looked over at Asia with a mock look of pain. "Why didn't you stop me? I thought you were my friend."

"I told you to stop after that third burger as you'll recall." Asia reminded him as she undid her seat belt and with a wink got out of the car. Walking around the car to meet him she slid her arm in his and together they headed for the stairs.

"Duo! Asia!" Running over in her school uniform Maia waved at them as she came over. "Hey, guys."

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Duo asked teasingly, especially since he wasn't one to talk. He'd cut more school then he'd ever attended.

"It was only a half day because of teachers meetings. Personally I think they just knew they'd be too hung over from celebrating the day before to be up to teaching a full day." Giggling at the idea Maia held up the keys she was holding. "My mom had her assistant pick me up and I forgot one of my books in Angie's car. I uhm..kinda forgot what make it was."

"Well you're in luck, it's that one right over there." Pointing Duo turned at the sound of a car going faster than it was supposed to be in this area. Eyes narrowing he cursed under his breath, imagining it was one of the preppy boys from the meeting Quatre had been going too. "Well that's the way to burn rubber, idiot. Better stand back, ladies. Looks like he's coming this way."

The girls backing up behind Duo they watched the car with varying degrees of annoyance which quickly turned to horror as the vehicle suddenly shifted direction, aiming right for them. With no where to go Duo braced to take as much of the impact as possible as Maia's high pitched scream echoed against the concrete walls.

* * *

The car never came though as it stopped inches from their bodies, even though the engine was still running. To their amazement the car began to crumple up, like a pop can being crushed between two hands. The car door was thrown open and a man fell out, getting up to run only to be slammed back into the car with incredible force, the car suddenly twisting like a snake to encircle the man, holding his prisoner. To the naked eye there was no reason for any of it to have happened.

"What the hell?" Duo said slowly, taking a step forward as the man started screaming to be saved though the car had miraculously stopped moving and stood still now.

"Now there's only one person I know who could have pulled that off." Asia managed to get out now that her heart had steadied down. Ignoring Duo she walked over to get a better look at the car that was looking more like a demented sculpture than a form of transportation at the moment. Yup, there was only one person who came to mind who could do this sort of manipulation with nothing more than the power of his mind. "Nagi? Where are you?"

"Nagi?" Duo repeated, looking all around them. Finally he saw a small, barely there movement as a person, a little taller then Maia came out from behind a few vehicles without making so much as a sound as he bypassed the shattered glass on the ground.

"I knew it was you!" Running over Asia threw herself at the boy, pulling him into a huge bear hug that judging from his face the boy hadn't expected at all.

* * *

A boy was definitely the word, Duo thought, quickly giving the boy a quick look over. Around 5 ft 5 with brown hair and a stunning pair of purple eyes. On the skinny side but dressed very well, on the pricey side even. He couldn't be much older than Maia in years though judging from the kid's eyes he was a lot older in the way of someone who had never truly been a child. The question was, how had the kid done what he'd just witnessed?

"Do you know him?" Maia asked softly, coming to stand beside Duo as the two watched Asia hug the hell out of the boy while the kid tried not to squirm too much. He was so cute, Maia thought, her cheeks blushing a becoming pink. Could he have really done that?

"ASIA!" Everyone turning to look they watched as a small crowd of people descended upon them at neck breaking speed. Asia, recognizing the panic in Quatre's voice let Nagi go and went running over to throw herself into his waiting arms, hugging him close while Lady Une came rushing over to do the same to Maia.

Nagi, standing back to watch nervously, considered leaving the scene now but the last thing he needed was for them to misunderstand his presence here. He had enough enemies without adding the entire Preventers organization to the list. Then again the woman he recognized as Lady Anna Une was hugging that girl about his age so maybe this could turn into something in his favor. After all, it never hurt to have someone of her power and influence in his debt. Especially given how often he found himself in trouble. Sticking his hands into the pockets of his long brown jacket he waited patiently. If they started to bother him it wouldn't be hard to get away from them. As easy as a thought in fact.

* * *

Looking over the car Paris whistled under his breath before looking over at the boy who was watching them all silently. Duo had babbled about Asia saying the boy had done it and looking the kid over Paris had a pretty good idea who he was looking at. "You're Prodigy, aren't you?"

"So they tell me." Was the boy's cool response. He'd been called worse after all. A lot worse. Not that he was exactly a prodigy of anyone, especially since he didn't hang around with anyone he particularly wanted to be the prodigy of. He liked and respected Crawford but he had his own ways of doing things and he liked his way best. "You're Rome's younger brother."

"And you're Crawford's ward."

"Crawford?" Tensing up naturally at the mentioning of the name of the man at the top of his hit list Milliardo turned to look at the kid more closely. "What do you mean, ward?"

"He's my guardian. I stopped by to see if Rome was around to take a late lunch." The boy explained, walking a little closer though his attention was focused on the man who had started to scream again. "You're hurting my ears. Stop screaming or I'll play with your car some more." Well that shut him up, Nagi thought in satisfaction as the man cut off his scream midway. Apparently who ever had hired the man hadn't been interested in a quality thug. Screaming like a girl, Nagi thought in distaste.

"Nagi, this is Senator Quatre Winner. Quatre, this is Nagi Naoe." Asia announced before anyone could comment on the fact that the kid was really starting to spook the hell out of them. It was those cool purple eyes that did it. That and the lack of any feeling no matter what he was saying or in this case threatening. This was no ordinary kid, even without the whole car thing.

"Thank you for helping them, however you did it." Quatre said as he took the boy's surprised hand and shook it.

Shrugging it off Nagi didn't know what to say as Lady Une, Duo, Maia and several other people all felt the need to come over and thank him for what he'd done. He wasn't used to people actually wanting to be near him, much less acting like they were glad to see him. Especially after they'd seen what he could do. Of course if he hadn't been around there would be three bodies to be bagged. If he hadn't been around to save them no one would have been happy to see him, Nagi thought, glancing at Rome's boyfriend out of the corner of his eye. "Is Rome here?"

"No, she had some meetings to attend in Tokyo." Paris answered.

"Then I'll go. The cameras and the others should clear up any questions."

* * *

"Wait..uhm...you haven't had lunch yet, right? Can I...uhm...buy you some? The cafeteria here is really good. I haven't eaten either." Maia blurted out before she could think about how incredibly stupid she was being. There was no way he was going to say yes, to a guy as good looking as him. Plus, even if he did say yes her mother was bound to have some problems with it. She didn't know how old Nagi was but he had to be at least a couple of years older than she was. When you were a teenager those couple of years mattered a lot to parents.

Staring at her Nagi tried to remember ever being asked out to lunch by not only a girl but a girl who knew what he could do and wasn't mental like Tot. The answer was a big never. "Aren't you afraid of me?" Nagi blurted out, asking the question everyone else had been thinking.

"Uhm...well...I'm a little freaked out by the whole mutating the car thing but you did it to save my life so I figure you're one of the good guys." Maia said weakly, not about to admit she thought him that much hotter and appealing because of what he could do. Like a super hero or something. She of course also had no idea just who Nagi lived and hung out with.

* * *

"How did you do that by the way." It was still bugging the hell out of him, especially since he'd been right there about to be hit when the kid had done whatever it was he'd done.

"He's telekinetic." Asia explained, trying not to blush at the way Quatre had her pressed against him with one arm around her waist to hold her there. It was like he didn't want to let her out of his sight, she thought dreamily, leaning back against him slightly.

"You mean you can move things in your mind? Like Jean Grey?" Duo asked, his eyes wide with curiosity and amazement.

"Like who?" He'd never actually met someone with telekinetic abilities before. That might be interesting and educational, if they would introduce him to this woman. Rome had never mentioned meeting anyone like him before but maybe this man, who seemed to want to look like a girl, was the only one who knew this Jean Grey.

"She's from a comic book series." Paris interjected before Duo could go on a tangent about X Men, one of his best friend's favorite comic book series of all time.

"Oh."

* * *

"You should go to lunch with her, Nagi. We both know that it isn't healthy the way you skip meals all the time. Besides, it would be good for you to spend time with someone close to your age for once." Asia knew that Nagi hadn't gone to school since he was little and even then it had been anything but a pleasant experience. Maia was a really nice girl and if Nagi would just be himself there was no reason he and Maia couldn't end up friends. Nagi didn't have a single friend his age that she knew of. Maybe not even a friend period.

"I could I guess." Nagi finally said, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal. He had to eat anyway, he'd promised Crawford that he wouldn't skip anymore meals even though his guardian was one to talk. He couldn't help the fact that he'd had to teach his body not to get hungry or need as much fuel as most people.

"Excellent." Pleased Asia beamed at him, making him want to squirm uncomfortably. He'd only met her a few times but she'd always been nice to him, a lot more affectionate then he was used to. The first time they'd met he'd gotten a sliver and she'd fussed over him the way he'd seen mothers do on television. What he supposed all mothers did when their children were normal.

"So if you're here does that mean Crawford is too?" Paris asked casually, he and Milliardo sharing a brief glance. Whatever lasting animosity between them had now vanished in their mutual hatred for Crawford.

"Rome mentioned you were out to get him. I wouldn't if you want to retain your abilities to walk upright." Nagi said with the faintest of smiles. "He only promised never to kill any of you. He didn't say anything about maiming or paralyzing."

* * *

"Would someone please explain this all to me? Who was that woman on the phone, who is this Crawford and how do you all know these people!" Lady Une demanded to know, having been watching from the sidelines. The shock of seeing her baby girl asking a guy to lunch had temporally side tracked her but no more. It looked to her like her soldiers had a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

"And while they're doing that we'll go get some lunch." Grabbing Nagi's hand before she could think about it Maia led him away, Nagi staring at their joined hands in surprise while Lady Une rounded on her soldiers in a way that suggested they were about to face a firing squad in the worst possible way.


	18. Good To Be Me

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I've put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's the way it will stay unfortunately. Anyways thanks again for reading and please, please review!

Good To Be Me

Putting her long legs to their full potential Sally hurried down the street towards the Preventers building. She'd been on the other side of the city when Wufei had contacted her to let her know about the attack on Asia, Maia and Duo and was only now getting back thanks to the terrible lunch time traffic. Of course they were all apparently fine but a meeting had been called to discuss what had happened in the parking lot. Since she'd gotten the call an hour ago she could only assume she'd missed it completely. The brisk fall wind blowing her dark blonde hair around her she hurried up the steps, too focused on getting there as quickly as possible to notice the empty water bottle before it was too late. Her right foot stepping then sliding on it she started wind milling backwards, her feet just leaving the ground when her back connected with something solid as two hands came to rest on her thighs, holding her steady. Being set back on her feet like she weighed nothing Sally whirled around to stare into the blackest eyes she'd ever seen. Almost hypnotized by their pitch black depths it took her a moment to take in the face of the man that those eyes belonged to. When she did her own eyes went wide with surprise as a single word, in this case a name, passed through her lips. "Crawford..."

"Doctor Po." Was his smooth reply, having recognized the woman as soon as she'd turned to face him. How interesting, he thought to himself as he watched her look at him dumbly. From what he knew of her she was a lot like Rome had pretended to be when she'd been Lucrezia Noin. Tough, hardworking, loyal and tomboyish. She had very expressive eyes and they were telling him she had no idea what to think about the situation. He doubted very much she realized he still had his hands on her thighs, Crawford thought in amusement as he removed them.

* * *

"What..what are you doing here? You do know Milliardo and Paris are out to kill you, right?" Sally finally managed to say, blushing slightly when she realized she'd been staring at him like some dumb blonde.

"They're welcome to try." Was his response, the slight smile that crossed his features suggesting that he might welcome such an attack. "I'm here to pick someone up though. Picking a fight with either of them wasn't on my agenda for today. Unfortunately."

"But..but Rome isn't in the city."

"I know." Was his simple reply, his hands sliding into the pockets of his warm cashmere jacket. There was a definite nip in the air today, he thought to himself, not a big fan of the cold. Perhaps he'd go on vacation once this whole mess was cleared up with Asia and the Senator. "I'm here to pick up someone else."

"Oh." Curious as to who that someone might be Sally wanted to ask but didn't want to seem rude. He didn't seem like a murdering gang leader to her, she thought to herself. He looked like the business sharks she'd seen in countless boardrooms on and off planet. None quite so sexy looking in a suit though, she thought, pink color coming to her cheeks as she realized where her thoughts were going. Damn, she really had been without a man in her life too long if she was thinking a former hit man was hot. Then again, what did a man's profession have to do with his hotness levels?

Raising an eyebrow at the color coming to her cheeks Crawford didn't think that had anything to do with the weather. Hmm, interesting. It had been a while since a woman had intrigued him and this one was a study of contradictions. She knew what he was yet she didn't appear to be afraid of him at all. A woman with her profession wouldn't be so naive as to think there weren't plenty of monsters in human form in this world. He had no doubt Paris and Julian had been spreading the word as to what a vile, evil creature he was. Yet she remained. Yes, that was quite interesting.

* * *

"Crawford." At the voice from behind them Sally turned to see who had called Crawford's name, her eyes going wide again as she saw a young man coming down the stairs with Maia close behind him. This boy knew Crawford? This couldn't be the person Crawford had come to see, could it?

"Are you ready to go?" Turning his attention from the interesting doctor to his ward Crawford was surprised to see a girl trailing after his people weary hacker. Nagi disliked people as much as he did. Then again, it was about time for Nagi's hormones to kick in where girls were concerned. He'd chosen a cutie, even if said cutie was the precious daughter of the head of Preventers. Nagi really did have the worst taste in women, Crawford thought with an inner sigh. At least this one wasn't anything like Tot from what he knew, so his ward was improving at least.

"Yes. Hello, Doctor Po." The boy said politely once he'd reached the step Sally was on. He'd seen her that night when Crawford had arranged to meet Asia, though he hadn't been allowed to leave the car to greet them.

"Hello." How did he know her name, Sally wondered, thinking that the boy had incredibly beautiful purple eyes that were none the less the same as Crawfords. Cool and full of secrets.

"Hi, Sally." Maia added, blushing slightly as she went over, holding her hand out to Crawford. So this was Nagi's guardian she thought, thinking he was terrible handsome but with an aura that suggested he only seemed harmless and relaxed. Once you looked into his eyes you knew you were dealing with a predator that was capable of ripping your throat out before you had time to see the claws coming. But he was Nagi's guardian so she wanted him to like her. "I'm Mariemaia Une, most people just call me Maia though."

* * *

"Pleasure." Taking her hand smoothly he could see that the girl was wise enough to sense what he was, even as she'd held out her hand to him. She had guts, a definite improvement on Tot, Crawford noted with some approval. There was nothing more distasteful to him then a quivering weakling who couldn't stand up for him or her self, much less others. "You can just call me Crawford." He added with what most would consider a charming smile though it was obviously as false as his portrayal of a mild mannered businessman. He was a predator, first and last. "We need to be going now, Nagi, we have work to do."

"Yes, sir." Turning to Maia he wanted to say several things, none of which he could, thanks to Crawford's presence. "Good luck on your English test tomorrow." He said instead, nodding his head in her direction. "Good bye."

"Good bye." Maia repeated, her cheeks as pink as Sally's had been as she smiled shyly at the boy. "I hope whatever you two are working on goes well."

"Thank you."

"Sally." Crawford said testingly, pleased when she looked flustered that he'd used her first name so casually. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. "If you could see that Asia gets that, I'd be most appreciative."

"Uhm..sure, no problem." Knowing she was blushing and cursing her continuing attraction to guys who were not only unattainable but often jerks Sally accepted the letter and hoped he couldn't see just how flustered she really was.

Thanking her Crawford said his own good byes then herded Nagi down the stairs, heading down the street to where he'd parked their car. Ignoring Nagi's questions about what had him smiling Crawford was content to just tune his ward out and think about just what he might do with the interesting blonde doctor who looked ripe for the plucking.

* * *

With Maia on her heels Sally headed for Quatre's office, glad to see Asia at her desk, manning the phone and looking none the worse for wear. Waiting until the younger woman was off the phone Sally smiled as she held the envelope out. "Crawford dropped this off for you."

"Crawford?" Surprise written all over her face Asia look the envelope and using her letter opener quickly had the single sheet of paper in her hand. Reading it over Asia wondered just what Crawford was up to, sending her this. Was he just playing around, doing this to screw with Rome's head? He couldn't really give a damn whether she lived or died so why was he getting involved in this mess? Had he sent Nagi to the parking lot? Troubled, she wasn't aware she was chewing on her bottom lip until Sally commented on it, asking if it was bad news. "No, not bad news. Good news actually. I think."

"You think?" Maia repeated, having been informed as to what was going on by Nagi.

"Well it's good news in that Crawford has apparently put the word out that he's interested in my man's stalker and will pay for information on her. The bad part is wondering just what he wants in return for doing all this. He's a genius after all, he knows he doesn't stand a chance with Rome. He's never shown the slightest interest in me so it can't be about sex. I don't have any money or power or anything he would find useful. He's also smart enough to know that Quatre would never get involved, even financially with a man like him. So the big question is, why is he acting so out of character on my behalf?"

"Is he really that bad?" Maia wanted to know, not wanting Nagi's guardian to be a bad man. Nagi hadn't said much about what his life was like, in fact he'd avoided the topic like the plague.

"He's..Crawford." Was the only way Asia could think to put it. "He marches to the beat of a drum only he can hear. Trying to figure him out is like trying to convince a macho guy to see a romantic chick flick. So time consuming and annoying you're better off just giving up and going with your friends."

Laughing Sally had to agree on that point. He'd definitely struck her as a man with a lot of layers and secrets that could possibly take years to uncover and dissect. The fact that that only made him more appealing just went to show how screwed in the head she really was.

* * *

"So Crawford is looking for the person who's stalking me?" Quatre asked in surprise a few minutes later, after Asia had said good bye to the other girls and had come into his office. "Why would he do that?"

"I have no idea." Sitting on the corner of his desk Asia was still as confused as she'd been when she'd gotten the letter. "Though he does have a good idea. Maybe I should call Omi and ask him to do some looking around for me too. I'm not sure if he's better than Nagi on the computer but two heads are generally better than one."

"Omi?"

"Oh, he's a friend of Youji's. They work at a florist shop together with Ivory's husband Ran. You remember Ran right?"

Calling up the faces of the various people he'd met after Rome had nearly died in that warehouse months ago he could dimly remember a tall redhead with a personality that rather reminded him of Milliardo. That's right, he'd said he was in the florist business and was married to Rome and Paris's godsister Ivory. "Oh. I didn't know he was a friend of your old boyfriend." Well wasn't that just cozy, Quatre thought, not liking the thought of her old boyfriend being close to her family.

* * *

"Oh yeah, that's how she and Ran met. She was attending a function where they were there working. She recognized Youji and he introduced her to his friends, including Ran. About a half an hour after she'd met them the party came under attack by these mob guys and Ivory ended up saving Ran from getting a bullet in the head. He was so impressed with her skill with guns he decided she was the girl for him I guess." Asia finished with a beaming smile. She adored Ran, even if he was really hard to get to know. And rarely smiled. And was constantly looking on the downside of things.

"So you still see Youji often?"

"Yup." Smiling up until she noticed the look in Quatre's eyes Asia's smile slowly became a frown. "What?"

"It's nothing." Quatre replied, deliberately turning his attention to the paperwork that lay in various piles all over his very overburdened desk. "Anyway, thanks for letting me know right away, I'll pass on the word to the others when I see them later."

"It's not nothing." Asia argued, hopping off the desk to go and stand beside him, quite aware of the fact that he was hiding something from her. "What's the matter? You know I'm just going to bug you until you tell me. You're better off just telling me now and saving yourself future grief."

"It really is nothing." Forcing himself to look up at her he did his best to keep his face as calm and controlled as possible. He was mortified enough that he was getting jealous, her knowing it would just make it that much worse. He had no reason to be jealous, none what so ever. He knew that Asia had dated plenty of guys before him and that she'd cared for many of them. Getting all worked up because she'd kept in contact with the guy she'd almost or had fallen in love with shouldn't bother him in the least. But it did. Big time.

* * *

Not buying it for a minute Asia slipped into his lap before he had any idea what she was up to. Wrapping her arms around his neck she nuzzled her face against his neck, pleased to feel his heart beat picking up through is clothing. "Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" If nothing else, he'd tell her so that no one could come in and find them in this position, Asia thought wickedly, laying across his lap the way she was.

Unfortunately, she'd spent so much time in his lap the last little while Quatre was starting to be able to control his reaction to her sliding into it. Not that it didn't still turn him on, but at least he wasn't going red every time she did it now. He was sorta proud of the accomplishment. "There's nothing to tell so you can get out of my lap." He pointed out reasonably, even though he was entirely comfortable with her staying there for a while. As long as she didn't start to squirm, then he'd be in a lot of trouble as his blood and intelligence went south.

Seeing that this wasn't having the effect she wanted Asia frowned. Obviously she needed a new method of persuasion since he finally appeared to have developed an immunity to this one. Damn, she really enjoyed being on his lap too. But she wasn't beaten yet. Not by a long shot. With some of the other Gundam pilots possibly but this was Quatre. Quatre just wasn't up to handling her unless she wanted to be handled. And oh but she'd been thinking about him handling her for a while now. Completely getting off topic Asia's mind was too centered on that to think about what she was supposed to be getting out of him.

* * *

Unnerved by her not saying anything Quatre wondered if he'd somehow insulted her. Normally by now she'd have increased her use of her considerable wiles to talk him into spilling his guts. The fact that she wasn't was scary because that meant he couldn't predict just what she was up to. That was never a good thing. "Asia, are you all right? You've gone quiet."

"Huh?" Blinking Asia lifted her head to look into his concerned blue eyes. Blinking again Asia pushed aside her little fantasy to pull herself back to reality. Pity that. "What? Did you say something?"

"No. Tired?" Reaching out a hand to gently stroke her hair Quatre's mouth went from a frown to a gentle, almost loving smile as his other arm wrapped around her waist, settling her better against him. It had been a long and stressful day after all.

Unable to take her eyes off that look in his eyes as he looked back at her that way Asia felt her heart flip in her chest, a lovely feeling that she wouldn't mind repeating as she slowly smiled back at him. "A little." She said, rather than admit to the real reason she'd been out of it for a moment.

Lowering his head to place a chaste kiss on her forehead Quatre's lips smiled against her pale skin. "We'll go home early then. Do you want to lay down on the couch? I can cover the phone for you."

"Awww you're so sweet. Whatcha gonna do." Using her arms around his neck like weights Asia lowered his head enough so that she could reach him as she pulled him down for a kiss. Sweet, loving and meant to express just how much he meant to her Asia could never remember a kiss like it and knew, somehow, that she'd never feel this way kissing anyone else. Only him. And somehow, that made perfect sense to her.

Kissing her back Quatre felt like she'd reached inside his chest and caressed his heart. He'd never been kissed like this, a kiss that made him feel like everything was perfect and would remain so as long as he held on to her. Like he'd finally found his home. Finally drawing away when they needed air Quatre smiled, his eyes closed as he leaned his forehead against hers. "What was that for?" He murmured.

"Because you're you." Was her answer, her smile in her voice.

"It's good to be me."

"Definitely."


	19. Only You

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else so just remember to give credit and flames to who actually deserves them. Thanks for reading and please review cause I love hearing from you guys! Thanks.

Only You

Quatre was in trouble. A lot of trouble. In fact he was drowning in trouble which was why he was standing in front of Paris's door, wishing he could do anything but what he was about to do. He could handle having over twenty sisters, too many businesses to count, a political career and a stalker breathing down his neck. He could at least somewhat understand those, even if they perplexed the hell out of him sometimes. Unfortunately, what he couldn't handle was the way he felt about Asia which was what had led him to this humiliating position. This incredibly humiliating beyond words position. His face one of someone condemned to the gallows Quatre lifted his hand and knocked sharply, waiting until he heard his friend impatiently call out to enter before he opened the door. Walking in he found Paris talking on the phone, motioning him to take a seat while the other hand clenched and unclenched around the phone. Judging from Paris's tone of voice the call was not going well. To put it mildly.

Since Quatre's arrival gave him an excuse Paris informed his uncle that he had to go because a business associate had arrived for his appointment. Not waiting for a response Paris hung up with a satisfying wham. "God I hate that man." Paris muttered, glaring at the phone, as if to dare his relative to even think about calling back.

"Who was it?" Quatre wanted to know, hoping it wasn't someone important. It wouldn't be the first time Paris had nearly caused a diplomatic incident because he didn't have much in the way of tolerance for the stupid or annoying.

"Julian's father. He can't get ahold of his youngest to yell at so he decides to yell at me instead for being one of the many influences that led his son down the path to being a family embarrassment. I wish he was more like Rome's mother. She NEVER wants to talk to me."

* * *

"Why is he mad at Julian?" From what Quatre had seen, getting mad at Julian would take a lot of work. He was, to quote Asia, adorably goofy.

"More like his eldest son is pissed off at Julian so he went whining to daddy so that daddy can join him in the hating." Seeing Quatre's blank look Paris elaborated. "Basically Julian took his brother's children to Catherine's circus without his wife telling him that Julian was taking them for the weekend. He was away on a business trip so Julian figured it was okay, that he'd never find out. He found out."

"Why would his brother not want Julian to take care of the kids? I mean I'm sure he took good care of them, absent minded or not. I mean obviously the wife trusted him to take care of the kids."

"To put it blunt our family is pretty much cursed." Paris explained with a sigh, shaking his head wearily. "There always seems to be two boys and one always seems to end up a pretty good guy and the other ends up being a stick up his ass assehole who can't stand to breath the same air as his brother. Julian's dad hated my dad and Julian's brother pretty much hates Julian too. It all started with my grandmother apparently. She used to make my dad and uncle compete for her attention, plus grandfather wasn't above that either. It's a nasty cycle that unfortunately carried on to the next generation. I got lucky with the whole sister thing." Paris added with a wink.

"That's awful." He'd known that Paris and Rome's family was pretty messed up but still...talk about being dysfunctional. No child should ever have to compete for their parents love and affection. Heck, look how many sisters he had after all. His father had put more pressure on him but he'd known he was loved regardless.

"Ah well, no biggie. So what's up?"

* * *

"I need your help." Quatre blurted out, his eyes dropping to stare at the carpet rather than at his friend who watched him with a mixture of surprise, speculation and curiosity. "God this is so friggin embarrassing." He muttered, just loud enough that Paris's keen ears picked it up.

"Girl trouble?" Paris surmised, a knowing look on his face. Women were trouble with a capital T and Asia would be no exception. Come to think of it, that girl was probably in a class all her own.

"I...I..don't know what to do." Quatre began in a small voice, forcing himself to at least have the guts to look his friend in the eye. "I think I might be in love with her but I don't know because I've never been in love before and people always describe it differently when you ask and...and I'm worried I'm mistaking this for lust because I've never wanted a woman the way I want her and I'm screwing this all up, I know I am. I don't know what to say or do and she's probably all wrong for me but she seems so right and..and..and I'm making no sense..am I?"

Chuckling Paris got out of his seat and walking around his desk to give Quatre a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Got you tied up in knots, doesn't she?"

"That doesn't even begin to cover it." Was his very miserable reply. "I'm usually good with people but I feel like I'm walking on egg shells now that we both know we aren't pretending anymore. The ways things are going I'm either going to go crazier than my stalker or use my desk for something it was not designed for because her damn skirts keep getting shorter and shorter and I know she's doing it on purpose, just to torment me!"

* * *

It really was wrong for him to be amused but he just couldn't help it. He felt sorry for the both of them. Here Quatre was trying to be his normal, practical and proper self and Asia was sending out the signal that she'd liked to roll around naked with him on his office floor. Quatre didn't generally date women that would consider rolling around naked on an office floor to be much fun. For that matter, he was surprised Quatre had picked up on the fact that the skirt length was an intentional signal, even if he'd gotten it wrong. "So in other words it's freaking you out that she's not beating around the bush that she wants to get you naked." Watching Quatre go an interesting shade of red Paris couldn't help but smile, though he bit back a chuckle. "Look, obviously people have sex without knowing for sure how they feel about each other. You're holding out because it has to mean something to you and because you're too moral to sleep with a woman you don't care about. Though the whole sex on the office floor is probably a bad idea, at least during business hours."

"I knew I should have risked going to one of the girls for help." Quatre groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "All my male friends are either girl magnets who can't understand or guys who have even worse luck with women than I do!"

Since he was no where near worse than Quatre Paris assumed he fell into the babe magnet column which was sort of flattering, if a little exaggerating. His relationship with Relena was shaky as it was and they were actually on good terms at the moment. Perhaps he still wasn't quite over the whole bugging thing because though they were dating he had yet to try and get her into bed either. So here they were, the two of them, both with women more than ready and they were hesitating. God but that was sad. Suddenly feeling as depressed as Quatre Paris leaned back against his desk, sliding his hands into his pockets with a scowl.

"So what are you going to do?" Paris finally asked, after a lengthy pause spent with both of them thinking of just how easily women turned their lives into living hells without even trying.

"Hell if I know."

"Me neither."

* * *

"Your brother is so annoying." Relena practically snarled at Rome as she took a seat beside her soon to be sister in law. "He's been giving me weird looks all day and he won't tell me why!"

"He was fine the last time I saw him." Was Rome's reply as she shrugged her shoulders in response to the silent question. She definitely wasn't her brother's keeper and that aside, he was a guy which made a lot of the things he thought and did foreign to her. Trying to get into her brother's head would be both futile and likely scarring. "Maybe he's just having a bad day."

"Than why am I the only one getting the weird looks!"

"Quatre went to see him about something." Asia volunteered, looking up from the pasta she'd bought for lunch thoughtfully. "He had me call down to make sure he was there before he went to talk to him about something important. Quatre wouldn't tell me what that something was either."

"That can't be it." Relena disagreed with a shake of her blonde head. "It's Quatre, since when does Quatre say things that piss people off? Especially at me. Quatre likes me, we're friends!"

"I could ask him, but odds are I won't get anywhere. Or correction, he'll tell me in exchange for Brad's address." Unfortunately, neither her brother or her damn fiancee had given up on the whole blow Crawford to bits mentality. The fact that Crawford would kick both their asses just wouldn't seem to sink into their mindblowingly thick skulls.

"Figures." Was Sally opinion as she rolled her eyes. "Like dogs with a bone at the slightest hint of competition."

"Don't forget that's very hot, very bad competition." Asia put in, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively before getting to her feet. "Anyway, I'll catch you guys later, have a meeting to get to. Quatre wasn't in a good mood this morning so being late to help him set up isn't probably a good idea." Saying her good byes Asia headed out, leaving the other girls to discuss Paris's weird behavior and guys in general.

* * *

Seeing Quatre at the meeting door Asia picked up her pace, calling out his name so that he turned to watch her as she came to a stop in front of him. "Made it." She said with a grin, giving him a flirty wink. "Told you I could get there, have lunch and be back in time."

"So you did." Quatre agreed, doing his best not to look at her since Paris said that was how they got you. Through skin and big, shiny eyes that promised all sorts of things if you just did what they wanted. Instead he opened the door and held it open for her, grinching his teeth as she deliberately slid against him as she walked past. Following her in he went straight for the front of the room where he set down his jacket and briefcase, opening the latter to pull out the handouts that would be given out for the men he was meeting for reference.

"I'll do that." Asia offered as she took the papers from her boss. He was obviously still upset about something and since so far her badgering had gotten her nowhere the least she could do is help make things easier until he did feel like talking.

"Thanks." Watching, unable not to watch, Quatre's eyes followed Asia around the table as she laid a booklet in front of each seat, lining it up just so because she knew how picky he was when it came to presentation. She was so cute, humming under her breath as she walked from place to place, absently pushing aside her bangs which were getting too long and needed to be trimmed. "Did you have a good lunch?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Relena's got her tail in a knot though because apparently Paris is acting weird today." Carrying the extra handouts Asia brought them over to be put back into his briefcase, smiling at him as she slid her arm through his and leaned her head against his broad shoulder. "Is that everything?" She asked, looking up at him questioningly.

* * *

It happened. Something snapped as she stared up at him, her sea witch eyes staring at him with that little smile playing across her face. It was almost as if the link between his brain and body had been severed as he reached out and whirled her around so that her back was against the meeting table as he swung with her, trapping her with his whole body as he pressed her backward as his head swooped down to capture her mouth with his.

Gasping in shock Asia had time only to grab onto his shoulders for support before he took full possession of her mouth, unable to move as his body kept her in place against the table, his arms on either side of her so that she was almost on the table as his mouth did incredible, wicked things to hers. Her boss was a quick learner, she thought with a moan, barely able to think period as the shock of his hands moving to grip her thighs caused her mind to blank. Then those hands were lifting and she was sitting on the table, Quatre moving to stand between her legs or as far as he could since her skirt's length was a problem in this case. Then he was taking care of that as his hands pushed the fabric up higher so that he could get closer, his lips not leaving hers for a second.

Lips leaving her finally Quatre's mouth immediately moved to her neck, groaning when he felt those delicate hands of hers frantically pulling his shirt from his waist band, her hands diving under the material to desperately to touch him. Thank you God, he thought, a red haze in front of his eyes as he nipped his way down her neck, licking the faint red marks he left behind, enjoying the way her pulse beat frantically against her pale skin. He couldn't get enough. Her skirt was now at her waist and it was only the need to possess ever inch of her that had him allowing that article of clothing and the one under it to remain on for the moment. He'd been waiting and dreaming about this for far too long to not get more out of this. His fingers moving to her suit jacket he undid the buttons swiftly while he returned his attention back to kissing her. He quickly had it off, groaning harshly when he saw the nearly sheer white camisole she wore underneath as if to strain what little brain power he had to the breaking point. "You really have been trying to kill me, haven't you?" He demanded to know as he stroked a hand down the side of her right breast, his eyes hungrily devouring the newly exposed flesh.

"Just being prepared." Asia shivered, her eyes at half mast as she watched his gaze return to her, his eyes a dark shade of blue that had her already battered pulse jumping as she felt an electric shock go through her body at the desire and hunger in them threatened to overflow. So this was what Quatre was like when he let go of his control, she thought dimly as his hands cupped her breasts, his mouth returning to place more open mouth kisses along her neck. Wow.

* * *

It wasn't long before his shirt was off and her camisole being lifted up over her head when an insistent, irritating noise managed to puncture through the moment. Both breathing hard they paused, turning their heads to see that it was Quatre's cell phone, laying so innocently about a foot away from Asia's right thigh. Cursing a blue streak as the phone continued to ring Quatre snatched it up, intending to turn it off only to see that it was Lady Une calling. The same Lady Une who was going to be here any minute for the meeting. His blood running cold Quatre quickly pressed open and put it to his ear. "Yes?"

"I was starting to think you'd misplaced your phone." Was Lady Une's response, a hint of a smile in her voice. "I just wanted to tell you that this other meeting has run a little long so we'll be about fifteen minutes late."

"No problem." Quatre assured her, breathing hard as he tried to get ahold of himself as he sat on the table beside Asia, needing the support at the moment. He was sitting on a meeting table, just after one, with his shirt off, his pants undone and his equally disheveled assistant at his side, looking thoroughly ravished as she ran a nervous and dazed hand through her tousled hair.

"Sounds like you're behind too." Lady Une commented, taking his heavy breathing to mean he'd had to rush to make the meeting on time. "Well don't worry, you can sit down and catch your breath before we get there. We'll see you in fifteen. Bye."

* * *

Saying good bye Quatre hung up and set the phone carefully beside him before he turned to look at Asia who was watching him with a mixture of amusement, horror and residual lust. "They'll be here in fifteen minutes."

"Oh." There was probably a lot to be said but nothing came to mind as they both got dressed hurriedly, doing there best to straighten their clothing and appearance which wasn't easy, especially since Asia had to haul out the foundation to use on her neck. Then she remembered something and looked over to where he was retying his tie, his hands visibly shaking as his fingers fumbled on the knot. Good thing too, since her neck wasn't the only one that would be red, she thought dryly. His collar would hide the marks though. "Uhm...Quatre..." Trying to find words to fix things her mind was going unfortunately blank.

"Only you could drive me to this." Was his muttered answer as he shrugged back into suit jacket, taking his seat with a loud thud. The fact that he hadn't held her seat out for her said a lot as to his frame of mind at the moment. "Now I'm going to have to sit through this entire meeting however rude that is AND be in too much pain and too frustrated to really give a damn about anything, much less the importance of this meeting!"

"I didn't dig my nails in that hard, did I?" Asia asked hesitantly, taking her seat beside him as she tried not to think about how much she wanted to lock the doors and then roll around naked with her boss until neither of them had a working brain cell in their collective heads. As it was, she was pretty sure she wasn't going to be getting anything out of this meeting either. Just looking at the table was enough to give her hot flashes.

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh." Catching on Asia looked down at his lap then back up again. "Yeah."

"Yes that. I swear, you're going to be the death of me."

"Well...if that's a sample of what I'd get before I died...I'm willing to risk it if you are."


	20. Men and Directions

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else so keep that in mind when you're flaming lol. Thanks again for reading and please review!

Men and Directions

After the meeting Quatre had to go off with the businessmen for a related meeting while Asia went back to her office to chill and get her hormones in order. She'd only been at her desk for about an hour when the frantic call came in from one of the Winner's many holdings in the city. There was some sort of crisis apparently, involving a document which needed to be validated by the head office if major fines were to be avoided. Since Quatre was tied up for the moment, that meant her. Assuring them that she was on her way Asia arranged for someone to cover her desk for her then getting her coat on headed down a floor to search out someone to go with her. Quatre would have her head on a platter if she went by herself and she was already in his bad books at the moment. His very, very bad books, she thought with a hint of a snicker as she watched the elevator doors open. Stepping out she'd only taken a few steps when she spotted Sue Ling and Julian walking towards her. "What are you two doing here?"

"Duo forgot some papers he needed so I volunteered to bring them for him." Julian explained with a smile, dressed in jeans and a sweater, a long black jacket over his arm.

"You mean you were willing to have any excuse to avoid your father's phone calls." Was Sue Ling's dry response to that. She'd already received several phone calls from the man on Julian's behalf and she'd imagine Julian would keep letting her answer the phone for quite some time to come if things continued this way. Unless of course he came to see Julian personally. That would be a bit extreme though, since Julian's father found every excuse imaginable not to see his youngest son. normally

"Well that might have factored in somewhat. So what are you up to, Asia?" Julian asked, ready to change the subject. His father had already given him two lectures and was still calling to give him more. You'd think he'd gotten the kids killed or something, the way everyone was reacting. He didn't even want to think about what his brother was going to say once the scrooge got ahold of him.

"I have to go uptown and you know the rules, I can't go anywhere without skilled escorts."

"Well we could take you." Julian volunteered, sticking his hand into the air like a little kid trying to get his teacher's attention. "Sue Ling and I don't need to head back home yet and this way you won't have to bother any of the guys."

"You sure?"

"Positive. I've got the Jag."

"I'm there."

* * *

Arriving at the company's main office with Sue Ling and Julian in tow Asia met with the head of the advertising department who was well on his way to overdosing on coffee and looked like a giant ulcer waiting to happen. He apologized to her for the inconvenience so many times Asia imagined she'd hear the man's nasally tone in her sleep, begging her forgiveness for this oversight. Brushing that aside Asia took the documents from his less frazzled assistant and reading them over frowned. She recognized these documents, remembered bringing them in for Quatre to sign. She also remembered sending them with the rest of Quatre's documents and mail a week ago. Had they gotten lost? Worried Asia made a mental note to make sure the rest of the mail had gotten to their destinations or was on its way there. Strange, their postal service was usually really reliable about this sort of thing. Reading it over carefully to make sure everything was in order she signed them and handed them over to the assistant who said she'd fax the documents straight away. Suffering through another round of apologies and excuses Asia finally managed to excuse herself and rejoin Sue Ling and Julian who'd ended up waiting just outside the conference doors.

"So everything peachy now?" Julian asked as he slid his arms into his coat, zipping it up against the cold October air.

"Hopefully. I'm going to double check with some people about documents sent though, some of that stuff is way more important than this was." Buttoning up her own coat Asia smiled once they were outside, breathing in the crisp autumn air. "It's been a while since I've been this far out of the city, it's nice to breath and not taste smog."

"Tell me about it." Rolling his eyes for emphasis Julian grinned down at her. "So where to next?"

"Back to the office unfortunately."

"All right then."

* * *

They were walking around the building, towards the parking lot which was situated behind it when Asia, Sue Ling and Julian came to a halt when a male voice called over to Julian, waving a map in his hand as he asked if Julian could come over to help him for a minute.

Watching Julian walk over Asia rolled her eyes at Sue Ling. "Notice he didn't think to ask us to come over? I mean, what is it with guys and thinking that they're the only ones who can read a map? They never listen to us even when we give them perfectly decent instructions, if they even bother to ask, which they usually don't. I don't get that either. If you're lost, asking someone for directions is the only sensible thing to do. Do you ever stop to think about how much gas men waste driving around rather than stopping to ask someone if they might know the right way? It's like they associate asking for help with castration or something. Personally, I think a man who's confident enough to admit he doesn't know something is a hell of a lot sexier than a man who'd drive around for hours rather than admit he's lost as hell."

"Do you give good directions?" Sue Ling wanted to know, well used to Asia's rantings on various subjects that would never have crossed her mind if Asia hadn't raised the topic in the first place.

"No, but you would." She, herself, wasn't the greatest with maps but she knew for a fact that Sue Ling could because whenever Julian needed to go somewhere Sue Ling always got him there and on time too. "Hey, Sue Ling, do you know why the Israelites wandered around in the desert for forty years?"

"No, but I'd imagine it has something to do with them not asking for directions."

"You're no fun."

* * *

Watching Julian make various hand gestures and seeing the confused look on the man's face Sue Ling and Asia were just about to go over and try to help whether the guy wanted theirs or not when two men came up from behind, slapping strange smelling clothes over their mouths. Recognizing the scent instantly Sue Ling went limp, smashing her elbow into the guy's crotch on the way down, followed by the palm of her hand coming up to break his nose when he bent over in pain. Asia, meanwhile, struggled with her own attacker who had one arm wrapped around her waist and arms in a grasp of steel while the other held the cloth firmly, whatever was on it making her head swim as she struggled to remain conscious. Desperate Asia slammed the back of her head into his chin as hard as she could, doing more harm to her head than to his face in the process. But it made him loosen his grasp enough that she could elbow him hard in the gut which allowed her to break free. Julian finished him off though as he shocked everyone by shooting the guy with a blast from a taizer before Sue Ling could move to help Asia finish the job. Both women woozily looking over towards him in disbelief Julian just shrugged and grinned, his free hand pointing behind him where directions guy was laying unconscious on the concrete. "Shockingly enough, he thought I was the most threatening of the three."

"Only in your dreams." Was Asia's response to that, weaving slightly where she stood. Not even aware of Sue Ling's help she quickly found herself sitting down on the paved road with her head between her legs, breathing deeply.

"You two all right?" Julian asked, reaching their side with the taizer ready in his hand, just in case.

"Chloroform." Sue Ling replied by way of explanation. "I'm a little light headed but I'll be okay. She might end up horizontal soon though."

"When did you get the taizer?" Asia wanted to know, her words slightly slurred. "Who in their right mind would give YOU one. You're more likely to accidentally use it on yourself than someone else."

"Actually I took it from the other guy when he tried to use it on me. Very rude of him, wasn't it? Anyway, I suppose I better call the police to round up these ruffians and than get you ladies to Sally for a look over before I call the guys to let them know what happened."

* * *

Thankfully by the times the guys found them in Sally's office an hour later they'd both been given the okay and were feeling much better than they had when they'd arrived. Julian, the unexpected hero of the day, preened under the compliments from the guys for helping to rescue Asia and since he was very rarely praised for doing anything remotely manly he was eating it up with a spoon. Sue Ling, for her part, stayed in the background and rolled her eyes as Julian launched into another telling of what happened for Lady Une's benefit.

"He's going to be retelling that story for years, isn't he?" Trowa asked quietly, moving to stand beside her.

"Most likely. It's rare that of the two of us he can say he contributed to the protection of his own safety, much less that of others."

"I have to admit, I didn't think he had it in him." Then again, he'd often observed that when a loved one was in danger a person found within themselves abilities they had never had before or would again. Just as Rome had done when Paris was threatened a few months ago. To protect someone important to you, there were few boundaries one wouldn't break through.

"I'm surprised he knew it was a taizer, much less how to use it."

Smiling slightly Trowa looked across the room where Asia sat, talking on the phone to Quatre who had yet to return from his meeting. He'd imagine that the normally law abiding Quatre would be breaking a few speed limits in order to get here, to see her for himself. You never quite settled, until you saw for yourself what your mind already knew. Seeing her lift a hand to rub her temple Trowa turned his head, concerned. "Are you all right? Do you need to lie down?"

"Just a slight headache nothing more."

"Are you sure?" Trowa persisted, laying a hand on her arm. "A nap wouldn't hurt and we can always bring you home with us when it's time to leave."

"Then who would make dinner?" She pointed out, fighting the urge to massage her temples some more since it seemed to upset him.

"Who cares about dinner? You're far more important." Realizing how that sounded Trowa quickly looked away, tremendously glad he was nothing like his best friend. If he had been, he had the uncomfortable feeling he would be blushing at the moment.

Just like Trowa, Sue Ling would have been blushing as well if it weren't for her personality and her own ridged sense of control. Instead she merely nodded her head as she thanked him for his concern but assured him that she'd be perfectly fine. Once Asia got off the phone Sue Ling announced that she and Julian would drop Asia off at Quatre's estate then head home themselves. It took a lot of fast talking on their parts to convince the guys though and in the end Paris and Trowa insisted on riding along, just in case. Thankfully, all got to their respective houses in one piece and Paris and Trowa returned to Preventers, double determined to find the bitch responsible for this latest attempt on the lives of the people they cared about.

* * *

Dashing up the stairs a half an hour later Quatre didn't even bother to knock as he burst into Asia's room, his eyes automatically going to the bed where she sat reading a book, putting it down as she raised an eyebrow at him. "My bad habits are rubbing off on you. You didn't even bother to knock."

"If I mention you going into hiding again are you going to throw that book at me?" Quatre wanted to know, calming down now that he could see for himself that there didn't appear to be so much as a scratch on her.

"Possibly. And it's a pretty thick book too." Lifting it as if to test the weight she grinned at him as she set it back down at her side. "Besides, we both now that even if I did go into hiding that's no guarantee that she won't find me or just start killing other people again like she did before she had me to focus on."

"I think I'd rather lose people I barely know than lose you because of me." It was small and it was nothing to be proud of but that was simply the way he felt. Screw the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. He didn't care what it said about him, that he'd sacrifice the lives of others for her without question. It would weigh on him, haunt him, but if he had her he thought he'd be able to stand it. As long as he had her.

"Come here you." Holding out her hands she smiled at him as he walked over, sliding onto the bed so that he slid into her waiting arms, letting her draw his head down so that it was pillowed on her chest, the sound of her heart beating in his ear.

Closing his eyes Quatre concentrated on that sound, the sound of life flowing through the warm body resting against his. "What were you doing there anyway? At that building?" He asked, soothed as her fingers began to slide through his hair, stroking the pale blonde strands.

"They needed some papers signed. I know we sent them back to them but they must have gotten lost in the mail. I already called some of the other people who were sent documents on that day and so far everything else is accounted for."

"Good to know." Nuzzling his face against the silky material of her nightshirt Quatre couldn't think of a single good reason why he should move. Well, except for one. "Am I too heavy?"

"Not in the least." Was her reply, a smile in her voice as she continued to stroke his hair. "On a happier note, the Halloween Party is almost upon us. I confirmed your costume being ready and I'll pick it up with mine tomorrow."

* * *

"Oh fun." He hated dressing up for Halloween. Yes it was supposed to be in fun but he always felt ridiculous, especially when he left it up to Asia to get him a costume since he was too busy to do it himself. One year he'd ended up going as the Phantom of the Opera because that had been the only costume he'd been able to come up with on short notice since she'd tried to dress him up as a Greek God. That's all he needed, a toga in October. He was from a hot climate after all, he hated the cold. He hated it almost as much as being sick which he would have undoubtedly been if he'd let her talk him into that costume. Speaking of which... "What am I going as this year?"

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out."

"But I don't want to wait until tomorrow." Was his quick reply, having had this same argument the year before. Luckily, he had already arranged for a back up costume if whatever she'd pick out was something he wouldn't be caught dead in. "Not even a hint?"

"It goes with my costume."

That could be a bad thing. He'd seen her dressed as Tinkerbell, a hula dancer and as an Egyptian Queen. Modesty was not his woman's strong suit. Even worse, she obviously wanted them to go as a pair costume wise which meant him getting out of whatever she'd gotten for him was not in the cards whether he wanted to or not. "Then what are you wearing?" He asked, not really expecting an answer to that question either.

"I'm not telling you that either. Don't worry, you'll love what I'm wearing, promise." Was her answered, her free hand coming up to slide up and down his back as her other hand continued to stroke his head. She had a feeling he needed all the soothing he could get thanks to the present topic. She knew he worried about her choice of costume every year, just as she knew about the back up costume he'd gotten for himself behind her back. It would be a cold day in hell when the likes of Quatre Winner could pull the wool over her eyes, Asia thought in amusement, twirling a short lock of golden hair around her finger.

"I'll love it in terms of I'll think it's a great costume or as in I'll want to get you out of it as soon as possible?"

"Well I'm sort of hoping for both, definitely the latter." Was her amused response.

"You know I won't be able to protect you if I'm in jail for beating up every man that looks at you the wrong way."

"Well who knows, I might be so overcome with lust once I see you in your costume that neither of us we'll leave for the party that night."

"Oh God."


	21. A Matching Pair

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it has to be whether you like it or not heh. Thanks very much for reading and please review because I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Valentines Day!

A Matching Pair

It was the day of the party and Quatre was pacing in his room, more nervous than he could ever recall being in his entire life. Not even battles and impending death had ever rattled him this much before. Absently looking over at his bed where his costume was all laid out he grimaced and continued pacing, trying his best to block out that mental image. It wasn't that his costume was that bad. Considering the fact that Asia had picked it out for him he figured he'd gotten off lucky. No, it wasn't his costume that had him worried but hers. Since they were apparently going as a pair he had a pretty good idea just what she'd be wearing and it was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. Tonight was going to be nerve wracking enough as it was without having her kill his brain cells every time he looked at her. Smart as he was he still didn't have all that many to spare as of late since she kept finding ways to decimate his brain's ability to function properly. Which she seemed to enjoy doing, Quatre thought with a grimace, absently yanking on the tie he had yet to remove. He was supposed to be getting ready but how was he supposed to think about that when he had one hell of a night to get through. First he had to go to a party where his evil bitch stalker was quite possibly lurking, intending to do lord only knows what to himself and Asia. Than he had to fight off all the men who would try to descend upon them like starving wolves without getting into any fist fights that could result in him spending the rest of the night in jail rather than at home. With Asia. Yes, he had plans for this evening and they were driving him bonkers.

The grandfather clock in the hallway beginning to chime out the hour Quatre cursed under his breath and paused, his mind registering the fact that he was running out of time to change before Asia came in to find out why he wasn't. If she came bursting in while he was in the middle of getting changed he doubted very much that they'd be leaving his room any time soon. Which would be better than good up until the point where the guys started frantically calling to make sure they were both all right. Quatre had had quite enough of distractions where his love life or lack there of was concerned. No, that was going to end tonight. Straightening his shoulders and taking a deep breath he turned and practically marched over to the bed, a man on a mission. He'd get changed, make sure everything was in order for later on and than drag Asia off to the party so that they could get there early and leave the same way.

* * *

Popping her head into Quatre's room twenty minutes later Asia was rather disappointed when she found the room empty. There went her plan to start the night out with a bang so that he'd want to leave the party as early as politely possible. Every time she tried to corner him there had always been someone around and the others had driven them both nuts keeping watch over them and preparing the security for the party. But that wasn't going to be the case tonight if she had to drag him out of there by his hair. Well..not his hair since there just wasn't enough of it to get a good enough grip. She'd come up with something anyway, even if she had to fall back on the well used headache excuse to leave. She was getting Quatre in a bed with her tonight if it killed them both. Provided of course that they died afterwards and not some time in the middle. If they died in the middle she was personally going to see to it that Sue Ling assassinated God upon arrival once her friend joined her in the afterlife. If anyone could pull off the assassination of God it was Sue Ling.

Closing the door behind her Asia headed down the hallway towards the stairs, not surprised to hear his low voice as she approached. Standing at the top of the stairs she was disappointed to see that he'd already bundled himself up in his nearly floor length trench coat which hid his costume from view. Her eyes on the back of his head she saw the instant he sensed her presence, the slight tightening of his shoulders as he slowly turned around to face her, saying an absent good bye to whoever he'd been talking to on his cell phone.

Stuffing the cell phone into his pocket Quatre couldn't take his eyes off her, her early prediction coming true. He really did want to throw her over his shoulder and head straight to his bedroom, neither to be seen again for at the very least the rest of the weekend. "Wow."

"You better be wearing your costume under that, Winner or I'm going to be very, very displeased with you." Asia teased, a pleased and sexy smile on her lips as she watched him watch her. Oh yes, getting him to leave early was not going to be a problem tonight.

Screw the party was all Quatre could think, trying not to notice just how inviting her midriff was looking, especially when there was a sparkling blue gem of some kind in her naval that was currently holding all his attention.

Amused and charmed by his sudden fascination with her stomach Asia reached the bottom of the stairs and putting plenty of swing in her stride walked over to him, sliding her bare arms around his waist as she smiled up at him. "Careful or you're going to walk into something. We can't have much fun if you're in a body cast."

"You look beautiful." Wrapping his own arms around her waist Quatre concentrated on getting his thoughts in order so that he really didn't end up in a body cast. Having thoroughly surveyed her costume and body on her way down the stairs an idea occurred to Quatre that gave him an idea as to how to start the evening off on the right foot. "I just have to grab one more thing and than I'm ready to go."

"What did you forget?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

* * *

Leaving her in the hallway Quatre headed to his study, going straight to his safe where he quickly punched in the numbers since he didn't want to keep her waiting. Locating the item he was looking for he quickly stuffed it in his pocket along with the cell phone before closing the safe behind him. Heading back out he found her waiting with her own coat on, doing some last minute primping. Calling out for her to close her eyes he waited until she'd done so before he pulled the present out of his pocket, moving behind her as he gently slide the delicate piece of jewelry around her neck. Attaching the clasp he hugged her against him as he turned her to face the mirror once more, whispering in her ear that she could open her eyes.

Having been waiting to do precisely that since he told her to close them Asia opened her eyes in a flash, her eyes going huge as she saw what he'd placed around her neck. It was a delicate gold choker made up of about twenty delicate gold chains woven together with a large, blue diamond tear drop hanging in the middle. It was the color of Quatre's eyes and the sheer beauty of it took her breath away. Clasping a hand against it she turned in his embrace, gapping up at him. "I can't believe...it's so beautiful..I..."

"It was my mother's. My father said it was the exact shade of her eyes." Quatre said softly, lifting a hand to cup her cheek. "It suits you."

Beaming up at him Asia couldn't find the words to thank him so she simply wrapped her arms around him again and held him close, her face pressed against the hollow of his neck as she held on as if she'd never let him go.

Standing there for minutes they only got moving when Edwards came in and politely reminded them that they did have somewhere they were supposed to be. More amused than embarrassed the two wished Edwards good night and headed out, Asia unaware that Quatre had left Edwards with a few extra duties to perform before he settled in for the evening.

* * *

Arriving at the party Quatre wasn't overly thrilled to hand over either of their coats but compensated by taking her hand as soon as they were both on their way into the ballroom where the party was to take place. He was not letting her go anywhere without him and he was prepared to physically beat the hell out of anyone who thought otherwise. The two made quite a stir as they walked down the overly elegant stairs and into the room, several people stopping in mid sentence to turn and stare. The two really were a pair, their costumes matching in that hers was black, accented with blue while his was the same blue with black accents. They were a sultan and his harem girl, his one and only in this case. Thankfully he'd forgone the turban Asia had offered but he'd agreed to the hoop in his ear which made up for it by giving him a more rakish look. His sleeveless blue vest was held together in front by five gold chains which thrilled all the women as they gazed at his undeniably pretty chest, visible thanks to the deep V neck and the skin visible through the chains. His pants were a little too poofy in his opinion but they weren't practically see through like Asia's which was a definite plus to his way of thinking. His accessories beside the earring where thick gold bracelets at his wrists and thankfully very comfortable sandals. Asia, on the other hand, was showing a lot more skin thanks to the fact that her short sleeved top ended just below her breasts with blue fringe along the hem doing little to hide the skin beneath. Her pants rode low on her tanned hips and the material was made of several layers of sheer black material with gold threaded through, giving sexy glimpses of her truly superior legs. She was wearing sandals as well, accented by gold chain ankle bracelets that went perfectly with the choker Quatre had given her as well as the gold bracelets she wore on her upper arms. The look was completed by hoop earrings of her own and the saucy smile she wore on her face as she let go of Quatre's hand to slide her arm into his instead. They looked good and damn if they both couldn't wait to get out of there.

* * *

Dressed aptly as the Grim Reaper Duo grinned as he waved them over to their group, whistling in appreciation of Asia's costume once they were close enough to hear him. "Nice outfit, Asia. Where's the rest of it?" He joked with a rakish wink, twirling the bottom of rubber scythe against the floor.

"I couldn't find it." Winking in return she had to admit he did make a cute Reaper even if the costume was a bit obvious. She wasn't at all surprised to see that Trowa was simply wearing his uniform in the place of a costume but she was surprised at the sight of Sue Ling dressed up as a fairy with a wannabe Zorro, aka Julian sipping punch beside her. "I can't believe you actually got her to dress up, Julian."

"It definitely wasn't easy." Julian agreed with a grin, raising his glass slightly in a salute. "And you do indeed look absolutely stunning, the both of you. Should I bow for the sultan?" He teased with a wider grin in Quatre's direction.

"I'd rather you not." Was Quatre's off handed response as he continued to scan the crowds around them, hoping to spot something that would tip him off. He just knew she was here but finding her would be next to impossible, especially with everyone dressed up the way they were. He probably knew most of the people in the room but he could only recognize maybe a quarter of them unless he spoke to them. In other words, his only options were to try and speak with every woman in the room and hope that he not only knew her but somehow magically realized she was his psycho or hope she pulled some sort of stunt that tipped them all off. Since the stunt would likely involve bloodshed and possible death neither appealed to him.

* * *

"At least this party is invitation only." Trowa stated, reading his friend easily as he too gave the crowd a brief scan before turning his gaze back to his friends. "If something does happen we'll at least have a list to go by and eliminate."

"Unless she comes in disguised as staff."

"I don't think so." Was Rome's opinion as she stepped over to join them in time to hear Sue Ling's statement, dressed up as Morticia Addams. "If she wants to impress Quatre than dressing up as the hired help is out of the question. Besides, given the arrogance and ego of those letters can you really see her even thinking of stooping to that level?"

"Good point." Asia agreed, doing some scanning of her own, though not being as obvious about it as Quatre. How he thought he'd see anything in this crowd was beyond her but she'd promised him in the car to be on her guard and she was indeed a woman of her word.

Adjusting the straps that held her wings up Sue Ling cursed the fact that she'd allowed Julian to bribe her into wearing the damn things and the costume in general. If there was trouble tonight it would be unbelievably humiliating to try and help while dressed up as a mystical creature with butterfly wings. Who ever heard of an Asian fairy anyway? Though Paris had said earlier that she looked very nice and Trowa had nodded in agreement. Looking up at the pilot Sue Ling was surprised to see him looking down at her, the two unexpectedly caught looking at each other for no apparent reason. Quickly adverting her eyes Sue Ling didn't appreciate the knowing look Asia gave her at all.

Holding back a smile for her friend's sake Asia's eyes narrowed as she spotted three women making their way towards them, one that she didn't know and one that she disliked with a gusto. Sylvia Noventa, she didn't have an opinion either way.

"Well, well, how very daring of you, Quatre." Dorothy called over with a purr, aptly dressed in red with horns and a saucy tail. Yeah, a devil costume definitely suited her well, Asia thought with a faint smirk as she watched the blond glide towards them in very high, red heels. The better to twist an ankle, my dear, Asia thought wickedly..

"Hello Dorothy, Sylvia, Katerina." Quatre answered with a pleasant smile, shrugging off his edgy mood to concentrate on the three ladies looking at him expectantly. Clueing in to what he'd forgotten he gave a small bow in their direction. "And may I say, all three of you look absolutely stunning tonight."

"But you still knew who we were." The girl Asia didn't know, Katerina, reminded him with a shake of her finger, a small smile on her face for Quatre as she looked over the rest of party. "And I recognize Mr. Barton but I don't believe I know either of these ladies or your Zorro."

"Ah, this is Julian McMaster, his personal assistant Sue Ling and my Asia." Quatre explained, draping a casual arm around Asia's waist while he gestured to the others with his other hand. "This is Katerina Koge, her father's a senator as well."

* * *

Everyone greeting each other now that they were all introduced Katerina focused in on Asia with curiosity "Ah yes, I believe I saw you with Quatre at Senator Roth's wife's funeral. Such a terrible tragedy. I understand that they haven't found out who's responsible yet? "

"No, they haven't." Trowa replied calmly, his green eyes sharp and aware. At the mentioning of Roth Trowa and Sue Ling had both given the woman their complete and total attention. That this stranger, that they both didn't know well, would bring her up at a party of all places was interesting. It wasn't unusual for a killer to talk about their victim, wanting the feedback about what others thought of their crime. Posing as mourners or simply curious bystanders they fed off the discussion and craved it as much as the kill. In a way, it was that which distinguished themselves from the killers they'd read about and met. Both Sue Ling and Trowa had blood on their hands but neither of them wanted to relive of speak of the acts they'd committed. They understood the value of all life while a killer only valued their own.

"They probably haven't gotten through the list of all her boyfriends yet." Was Dorothy's opinion as she sipped her champagne, a slight smirk on her face. "I wouldn't be surprised if she gave one of the poor bastards something and he killed her out of revenge."

"Dorothy." With that one word Sylvia conveyed a speech's worth of disapproval as she gave the older woman a hard look. "Whatever else she was she didn't deserve to die the way she did. Show some respect for the dead."

"Well it's not like anyone other than her husband mourned her passing. Everyone that came, came because they had to." Dorothy muttered, displeased to be put down in front of an audience. Especially by Little Miss Goody Two Shoes. If it weren't for the fact that Paris would give her hell for it later she'd put the little madonna in her place.

Wishing she could point out that Dorothy probably wouldn't even have that one person Asia bit her tongue only because getting into a pissing match with Dorothy would only lead to trouble and they had enough of that at the moment. "Speaking of political obligations..Quatre and I should really make the rounds. We've both had a long day and who knows how long we're going to last before we fall asleep in some corner."

"Good idea." Quatre agreed with a curt nod. Since they'd done nothing more strenuous than catching up on paperwork all day Quatre could only take that to mean that she was as eager to go home as he was. A slow, almost wicked smile crossing his lips he issued a quick good bye. "Well then, I hope you ladies have a good evening. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some mingling to do before we head home."

* * *

Watching Quatre leave it took all she had not to reach out and latch onto Quatre's arm, to pull him away from that bitch whore who clung to him like she had the right. How dare she, dressing Quatre up in such an undignified disguise. He would never pick something so tacky for himself of course, no, not her Quatre. She'd forced him to wear it, that vile temptress. Seducing all the men in the room with her harlot's costume, acting like she was somebody of importance when she was little better then some filthy street rat. She'd bewitched her darling Quatre, he'd barely spoken a handful of words to her before turning back to his bitch like he didn't dare show anyone else attention. Well that was going to change very, very soon. He'd have eyes only for her soon and that whore would be nothing more than a terrible memory. 


	22. Our Night Together

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's gotta be. Thanks to all my loyal readers out there and have an awesome day!

Our Night Together

In the next three hours Quatre and Asia greeted and met as many people in the crowd as was humanly possible in the amount of time they'd given themselves. They managed to get in a few dances for appearances sake but both viewed this as a hunting expedition, rather than a party to enjoy and relax at. Dull and tedious work they both made mental lists of anyone that struck them wrong, though neither could come up with a single name that rang true for them which was more than a little frustrating.

"So how much longer do we have to stick around?" Asia whispered into his ear, standing up on tip toes to reach as she leaned against his side. They'd finally lost Senator Hizaki and his wife and she wasn't eager to be stuck in another boring political debate any time soon. Did people not realize this was a party?

Smiling in understanding Quatre bowed his head slightly to whisper back, deliberately nuzzling the hollow of her neck a little. "A half an hour, than we can sneak out."

"Sounds good to me." Looking around the crowd for someone she wanted to talk to Asia had to roll her eyes at the sight of Kimi Cartell, a well known socialite who was, as always, dressed up as an overdressed princess. At least she was wearing a mask this time, so they didn't have to see her latest attempt to make herself look younger than she was with too much make up and surgery. She'd heard the woman had recently got another boob job done, and you could definitely tell. "When do you suppose she'll realize she's sixty and stop dressing up like she's twenty?" If the woman weren't such a snob, she'd feel sorry for her.

Looking over to where she was motioning Quatre chuckled, shaking his head at her observation. While it wasn't very nice, Quatre had to agree that she had a good point. Oh well, the woman in question hadn't come over to talk to him, that was a relief anyway. Miss Kimi, as she liked to be called, was a notorious gossip and the last thing he wanted to do was get cornered by her. Turning his head, least he get her attention, Quatre spotted Julian and taking Asia's arm led her through the crowd to talk to a friendly face.

* * *

Once she was sure Quatre and Asia would watch Julian for her Sue Ling slipped away and got herself something to drink, finding the room crowded and overheated. She hated parties, they were such a bother. They were always over attended, the good food was gone within minutes, and everyone wanted to talk or hit on you even when you were obviously not even remotely interested in them. If one more guy came over and asked her if she granted wishes she was going to take her stupid fairy wand and shove it up their ass. Accepting her glass of punch Sue Ling grimaced slightly as she sipped, her sensitive tongue picking up the faint trace of alcohol. Someone had spiked the punch. Annoyed, since she avoided alcohol whenever possible, Sue Ling resigned herself to drinking it and went looking for a spot where she could sit down and rest her feet. Winding her way through the crowd she finally found a chair and sitting down sipped her punch and watched the crowd, her eyes looking for any concealed or visible weapons. It would be foolish to attack either Quatre or Asia in this crowd but it would also make escape easy enough depending on their costume and weapon of choice. Studying the crowd diligently for several minutes Sue Ling's head turned as she sensed Trowa's presence, watching him make his way through the crowd until he'd reached her side.

Moving so that his back was to the wall Trowa glanced down at her, noting the diamond flowers Julian had somehow gotten her to put in her hair. It was all piled up in a curly, messy bun and he thought it suited her, as well as being appropriate for a crowd like this, where people were already sweating like mad in their elaborate costumes. Why people seemed to enjoy dressing up like this was beyond him, but what he really couldn't understand was why they didn't take the climate into consideration.

"Everything all right so far?" Sue Ling asked, wondering if that was why he'd sought her out.

"So far, so good. They'll be leaving shortly, that will be the critical time." If someone was going to try something tonight, it would be while Quatre and Asia were leaving the ball room on their way to the front door. The car had been guarded all night, and there was an arranged escort for them as soon as they left the front gates. It was the best they could do without tipping their hand.

"The woman in the hideous pink princess costume has been around them several times."

"Kimi Cartell, a woman with too much money and time on her hands. In the process of divorcing her fifth husband. She's sixty three. She loves gossip, she's probably remaining on the fringes, hoping to overhear something." Perhaps, Trowa mentally considered, he should send someone, Paris or Milliardo, to talk to her later, ask her if she'd noticed anything out of the ordinary. It would be difficult to do without giving the situation away but he knew both his colleagues were up to the challenge. She might even be able to give them some new names, of women she knew who had shown an interest in Quatre.

Recalling the woman in her mind Sue Ling was surprised to learn the woman was so old. She'd guessed half that. "She doesn't look it."

"Words she lives for."

"One of those." Why people couldn't be satisfied by what God gave them was beyond her. When you changed yourself on the outside you were more often than not changing yourself on the inside as well. Often, for the worst.

"Exactly." Glad they were in agreement it was after a couple minutes of silence that Trowa realized that they'd been talking short hand and getting each other's meaning without having to elaborate. They really were alike, Trowa thought, pleased at the idea though not quite sure why.

* * *

As soon as their time limit was reached Quatre and Asia quickly found their hosts, thanked them for a wonderful evening, than got the hell out there as quickly as their escorts would let them. Once they'd reach the car safely they both got into the limo and closing the door behind them had to laugh at their own exuberance. Like kids on Christmas Eve, Quatre thought, the comparison amusing him enough that some of her nerves abetted at the mental imagery.

"Well that was a fun party." Asia giggled, shifting into Quatre's lap as the limo's motor roared to life beneath them. Nuzzling her face against the side of his neck Asia made a sound very like a purr as she leaned back against him, enjoying the faint scent of sandalwood and Quatre that permeated from his slightly sweaty skin.

"Their best yet." He agreed, wrapping his arms around her waist, very sorry that the weather necessitated her having to wear a coat. Nuzzling the side of her face in return Quatre contented himself with just holding her, enjoying the feel of her body pressed against his own.

Smiling Asia lifted her head and shifting her body turned so that she could press her lips against his, placing teasing, quick kisses against his lips before letting him capture them in a deep kiss that had her fingers digging into his shoulder blades while his right hand cupped her head to keep her from getting away. Making a sound of encouragement when Quatre's other hand slid down from her waist to cup her rear Asia slid her tongue out to trace his lips, slipping between them when he opened them to allow his own tongue access to hers. Steaming up the back seat of a limo sounded like a good way to start the rest of the evening, Asia thought as their lips slanted against each others and their tongues dueled one another in a parody of what was to come. While their mouths kept busy Asia put her hands to work unzipping his coat to his waist before sliding her hands under the cashmere material to start undoing the chains that kept his vest closed. After all, always do now what you could do once you were in the bedroom, Asia thought wickedly, raking her nails against those tough guy muscles, enjoying the way they contracted and quivered under her touch. Oh so yummy, she thought, purring low in her throat in delight. Her boss was definitely still in military perfect shape. She really needed to get him into a Preventers uniform sometime. She did so love a man in a uniform.

"Turning kitty on me?" Quatre asked huskily, pressing his forehead against hers as they both got some needed air in their lungs, their eyes sharing heated looks. "I thought you were my harem princess."

"And your wish is my command." Grinning Asia rubbed noses with him, the mood becoming more tender as his grip slackened a little and the strokes of her fingers against his skin became the gentlest of caresses.

"Hmmmm...that could be interesting." Quatre chuckled, lifting a hand to stroke the side of her neck, playing absently with a a few silky strands of hair. "That means I can order you to not embarrass me anymore at work and make you actually treat me like your boss rather than the other way around. That would definitely be nice, heh. I should have had you dress up like this sooner."

Laughing Asia wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, drawing his head down so that she could whisper into his ear. "When we get home, I'm going to show you just how lucky you are to be my sultan."

"And I'm going to show you how lucky you are to be my harem girl." Was his whispered response.

* * *

Both were quite thankful for the length of Quatre's driveway when they did finally arrive at his home. It gave them time to rearrange their clothing and put their coats back on, hiding the fact that Quatre's top was now improperly fastened and the love bites both sported on their necks and shoulders. Getting out of the car before the driver could even come to the door to open it they hastily thanked him for the ride before sprinting up the steps, hand in hand to the driver's amusement. The house was dark, with a few lights left on to allow them to see their way up the front stairs. Quickly taking off their coats they were both hoping no one was awake to see them as they hung them up and made for the stairs like thieves in the night. In true princely style Quatre scooped her up into his arms, making her gasp and giggle as she hung onto his neck for dear life as they started up the stairs.

"If you drop me I'll never forgive you!"

"Even if I kissed you all better?"

"Hard to do that if I'm in a body cast." Asia pointed out as they made their way up the grand staircase, grinning up at him mischievously. "These steps are marble after all!"

Hard to argue with that. Grinning back Quatre paused on a step, turning his head to place a quick kiss on the side of her head. "If we fall, I'll do my best to take the worst of it."

"You'd better." She warned, waving a finger mockingly in his direction. Content to cuddle up against him the rest of the way up the stairs she paid little attention to their surroundings as they walked down the hallway to Quatre's bedroom. Aware of him opening the door Asia lazily lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes slowly going the size of dinner plates as she stared at the scene that had been set for her. The room was lit only by long, white tapered candles, set throughout the room to create the romantic atmosphere that was aided by the small, tasteful bouquets of red roses placed strategically around the bed so that their scent was heavy in the air. The covers of Quatre's enormous king size bed were turned down for them and the silk sheets gleamed in the light from the flickering flames, from the candles and his fireplace. "Oh, Quatre."

Since her breathy calling of his name had resembled more of a croak then a sound of delight Quatre wasn't sure what she thought of it. He knew he'd gone a little overboard but he wanted it to be perfect, the sort of things girls dreamed about. At least what he thought they wanted, he'd never tried to set this sort of scene before and had been too embarrassed to ask anyone else's opinion. "Do you..like it?" He asked hesitantly, really worried when he felt a wet tear slide down his exposed chest.

Swiping the back of her hand over her eyes like a little girl Asia leaned forward into his arms so that he could see her brilliant smile, as well as the faint tracks of tears on her cheeks. "Nobody had ever done something like this for me. I...I don't know what to say besides thank you."

"That's all I needed to hear."

* * *

Lowering his head Quatre captured her lips once more and this time he really meant business. The kiss was hot, wet and sizzling, sending them over into high gear as the room became charged with all the built up energy they'd been holding in, waiting for a moment like this to present itself. Making it to his bed through sheer instinct and luck Quatre lowered her onto his bed, following her down onto it after ridding himself of his vest so that he could finally feel her bare skin against his chest. Tossing it to the floor he turned in time to see Asia in the process of unhooking the back of her own top, her eyes on him as she did so. Watching her through hooded eyes Quatre's hot gaze seemed to burn her skin as her shaking hands finally got the last hook, allowing her to slid the top off her arms to be thrown on the floor along with his. Leaning forward as he pressed her back against the sheets Quatre buried his face in the valley between her pale breasts, nuzzling his face against their velvety softness while her hands came up to dive into his hair, holding his head in place. Taking that as encouragement Quatre lifted his head only slightly, placing kisses along the side of her breast, making his way slowly to her waiting nipple, encircling it with his tongue before taking it into his mouth. Suckling at her breast he didn't stop until her nipple was hard and red, only then moving his head to give equal attention to its twin.

Groaning out his name helplessly Asia's body moved insistently against his, rubbing herself against him like a cat demanding to be caressed by her affectionate master. Sliding one knee up to better cradle his erection in the junction between her thighs Asia's hands left his hair to grip his very fine rear, pressing him closer to where she wanted his attention the most, making sounds of encouragement even as she demanded more of his touch. While his lips made their way up her chest to her neck Asia started tugging down the hem of his pants, having deliberately picked a size that would fit his hips nicely but wouldn't be hard to get off either for this very reason. Managing to slide them down past his butt she used her legs to push them down to his knees, Quatre pausing to finish yanking them off before going back to feasting on her exposed neck, making her eyes nearly roll back in her head with the pleasure of it all as his hot breath contrasted with the rasp of his tongue.

Hands moving to touch and caress their skin grew damp with sweat, soon all clothing gone with only Asia's jewelry remaining to decorate the body Quatre had craved for what now seemed forever. Like a starved man facing a banquet Quatre worshipped the body under his while he consumed it, wanting to learn every taste and texture her body had to offer as his hands and mouth moved over her. Every sigh and moan was music to his ears, blocking everything else out but her from his mind. When neither could stand it anymore Asia wrapped her legs around his waist and Quatre slid inside her, the two fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle, made only to fit the other. Moving together as Asia met every thrust with her own they locked eyes with each other, never looking away as they both moved together in a rhythm older than time itself. Feeling her climax and his own reaching its crest Quatre grinched his teeth, concentrating on sending her over the edge first before following quickly afterwards, collapsing on top of her with his head pillowed against her breasts, her arms coming up to wrap around his waist, holding him to her as their breathing evened out and their heart rates slowed and moved in unison. Finding just enough energy Quatre lifted his head long enough to turn it so that he could place a kiss over her heart, than returning his head to its earlier resting place. Closing his eyes Quatre couldn't imagine a more perfect moment, one where no words needed to be said or expressed. All that needed to be said, they'd said in the most basic of ways. She loved him too. Thank God.


	23. Masks We Wear

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but my original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's going to stay until someone buys me the rights or I take over the world with my insaneness. Either way, thanks so much for reading and please review!

Masks We Wear

With his hands shoved in his pockets Paris exited the elevator, not at all pleased to be spending his free afternoon paying a visit on some stuck up old busy body who was more likely to pump him for information than she was to give him anything useful to work with. But between him and Milliardo he'd drawn the short straw so here he was, screwed for the moment. Looking around the overly ornate hallway Paris couldn't imagine why anyone would want to live in a place that felt it necessary to jam perfectly good hallways with tables and over done flower arrangements. It made him wonder what horrors would await him within Miss Kimi's penthouse, or lair as he preferred to call it. Shaking his head over the whole business Paris figured the sooner he talked to her the sooner he could leave and with that in mind he quickly located her door and rang the bell, hoping shamelessly that she wasn't home. No such luck, Paris thought as the door opened moments later, Miss Kimi's son opening the door with a questioning look on his face. Not surprising, since he'd bypassed security easily enough, Paris thought as he schooled his features into a somewhat pleasant smile. Or as pleasant as he could be in the current circumstances. "Hello, Senator Makus." Paris began, hoping that he'd gotten the name right since he wasn't sure which one of Miss Kimi's husbands had been the senator's father. "Is your mother in by any chance?"

Blinking in surprise the older man slowly shook his head. "No, I'm sorry she isn't. My mother passed away yesterday evening."

"What time? How?" Paris demanded to know, not caring how unfeeling and rude that could be interpreted to be. Miss Kimi had been at the party last night, perhaps she'd seen something and been silenced as a result? Had she been killed the same way as Mrs. Roth? Could Quatre's stalker have done this?

Giving Paris a decidedly disapproving look the senator answered only because it wasn't wise to mess with the young man in front of him, whose sister was marrying into the Peacecraft family. As well, this Paris McMaster was apparently a friend of Senator Winner, who he personally considered a family friend. "My mother passed away yesterday at seven in the evening. The doctors are investigating but it's assumed to be related to the surgery she was recovering from. She appears to have passed away in her sleep. I only arrived here from the colonies two hours ago, so I haven't been given all the details as yet."

Seven...then that most certainly had not been Miss Kimi at the masquerade the night before. Someone had decided to pose as the woman at the party in order to get in, and had known the woman well enough to pull the switch off. And had known that the woman was dead in the first place, which opened up a whole slew of questions, Paris thought as his eyes darkened to a harsh cobalt. "Was there anyone present when she passed away?"

"My daughter, when the sounds from the machines alerted her to something being wrong. She's been spending a lot of time with Mother, the two were planning a trip after her recovery." Looking away for a moment as he composed himself the senator bowed his head slightly when he did turn his head back in Paris's direction, not quite meeting the other man's eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have arrangements to make and my family needs me."

"My condolences for your loss." Bowing his head in return Paris watched the older man walk back into the room, shutting the door with more force than was necessary behind him. As soon as the door was closed Paris was off towards the elevator, his long strides eating up the distances as he pulled out his cell phone to call Trowa. They needed the camera footage from the party ASAP.

* * *

Sitting side by side as they reviewed the tapes Trowa, Sue Ling and Paris all agreed that they were complete and total failures as body guards for not realizing that the woman they'd thought was Miss Kimi was in fact someone much younger than the heiress in disguise. Of course they were all too well trained to outwardly show their shame, but they all hung their heads just a little, giving away their thoughts.

"And she was practically tailing Quatre and Asia the whole night." Disgust plain in his voice Paris roughly shoved his hands into his pockets, thoroughly pissed off with himself. If only he'd picked up on this, they could have had the psycho bitch in custody already. "How could we have missed this?"

"We saw what she wanted us to see." Was Trowa's simple reply. "She chose her taken persona well."

Studying the frozen image of the woman on screen Sue Ling could think of any number of questions this raised. "How did she know to dress up as this woman and that said woman would not show up and give her away? She also must know this woman well, to have imitated her so flawlessly so that even those who've known her for years would not suspect. Have you spoken to her doctors, Paris?"

"So far they can't figure out what killed her. There was nothing prior to her death to indicate there was anything wrong with her. I've asked them to send over their security camera tapes and they asked for a warrant. Relena's dealing with the paperwork as we speak."

"Her giveaways are subtle, things she probably couldn't help." Trowa noted, absently drumming his fingers against his thigh. "She occasionally walks with more easy and grace than a woman of sixty, plus she avoided people in general, which wasn't Miss. Kimi's style. We didn't notice because we were so focused on people we saw as logical possibilities. We were sloppy."

Watching them from his seat on the nearby sofa Julian just rolled his eyes over their depressing mood. "You guys are being way too hard on yourselves. I mean really, who expects the sixty year old little old lady to be someone's stalker? I mean the evil one must have had to have interacted with some of this woman's friends and not even they realized they were being fooled."

Since no one in their right mind would ever hire Julian as a security consultant, none of them felt particularly comforted by his seemingly off handed remarks.

Coming into the room Relena looked at the screen before giving them a rueful look. "I arranged for you to get the tape, but the head of security said he'd already looked the tape over from the time in question and saw nothing suspicious. And just a warning, when you go to pick it up, be prepared for a cold reception, Paris. He apparently took some offense to you threatening to shove a bed pan up his ass if you didn't turn over the tape to him."

"You threatened to shove a bed pan up his ass?" Trowa repeated, giving Paris a questioning look.

"When someone threatens the life of my friends I'll do a hell of a lot worse than that."

"Well I'll go get the tape with Julian then." If she went instead of Paris or Trowa, maybe she could get more of an insight into the situation from the security head, Sue Ling reasoned. Not that she had Asia's charming personality, but at least she knew better than to threaten someone with physical harm right off the bat.

"And I'll call Quatre and fill him in on what we found out." Trowa added, while Julian helped Sue Ling get her coat back on after donning his own. He was not looking forward to telling Quatre any of this but he knew his best friend well enough to know that Quatre's would be seriously pissed off if he wasn't informed sooner rather than later. "Paris, do you want to keep analyzing the tapes then?"

"Will do."

* * *

While the others headed out on their appointed tasks Paris sat back down in his chair and picking up the clicker started the tape rolling again, his eyes watching every move the woman made as she carefully made her way through the crowds, always keeping close to Quatre and Asia while still remaining somewhat hidden in the background. Mentally noting when someone interacted with the woman in any way Paris intended to have those people interviewed, in the hopes that they might lend further insight into the whole mess.

Watching him watch the screen Relena took the seat Trowa had vacated, the one beside Paris's. Since no one did multi tasking quite like Paris Relena figured it was okay to ask a couple questions. "So do you think Quatre's stalker killed Miss. Kimi?"

"Yes." Leaning back in his chair Paris never took his eyes off the screen for a moment. "I don't know how she did it but I don't have a doubt in my mind she pulled it off. Killing is obviously something she can justify to herself and it's not like Miss. Kimi would have been a hard person to restrain or trick somehow. The granddaughter could have nodded off for a minute, or gone to the bathroom or to the cafeteria for a drink. It wouldn't take more than a minute, depending on the method used. There are plenty of poisons out there that wouldn't have left a visible trace. Plus, they would have had to have had the permission of her son to do an autopsy, and he was off planet. By the time he got here, any number of chemicals could have already dissipated from her system."

Relena couldn't say she'd particularly cared for the woman, but she'd always thought Miss Kimi was amusing and relatively harmless over all. Even though the woman had lived for gossip she'd never been cruel about it. "So an autopsy will be performed?"

"If they aren't all morons over there. The hospital will want to cover their ass so they'll want to prove it wasn't their fault. Unless they think it could be there fault, then they might try to stall on an autopsy to avoid possible litigation."

"Lovely." Absently fiddling with the bottom of her pleated skirt Relena wished she didn't feel so nervous around him. Which wasn't to say she hadn't felt nervous around him when he'd been Heero Yuy, but she was even more nervous now that he was being his true self, a man she couldn't seem to get any closer to, no matter how hard she tried.

Noting her fiddling Paris would have rolled his eyes if it wouldn't have meant possibly missing something on the screen. He probably should do something about the new tension that had been present between them since he'd revealed his true name and identity to everyone, but he couldn't quite seem to guilt himself into doing so. As far as he was concerned, she was getting what she deserved for betraying his trust with that damn chain. Not that he didn't want them to be on good terms again but still, payback was supposed to be a bitch.

"Well if I don't see you later today, I'll see you for dinner." Getting to her feet Relena was almost to the door when he called out her name, never taking his eyes from the screen. "Yes?"

"That skirt looks good on you."

"Oh...thank you."

* * *

Julian and Sue Ling were on their way back from the hospital with the tape when Julian's cell phone went off. Pulling it out of his pocket Julian was surprised to see it was from his sister in law, not someone who made it a habit of acknowledging his existence unless she had to. Or he guilted her into it. Pressing the talk button he put it to his ear. "What can I do for you, Trisha?"

"How did you know it was me?"

Raising an eyebrow Julian wondered what had rattled her to the degree where she was thinking this unclearly. "Because your number is the one that was on the little screen when I checked to see who was calling. Now what's up? Are the kids okay?" When there was a long pause after that Julian sat up straighter, his voice taking on a decided edge that was reserved for times when his family's well being might be in jeopardy. "Trisha..."

"They're fine." Well they weren't, but adding Julian to the mix would just make things that much worse, Trisha thought to herself, weary to the very bone. It was always like this, when she talked to Julian and heard the coldness he felt for her, and the love he felt for her children. A love far greater than any their father had ever felt for them. "The reason I called is about your girlfriend, Julian."

Okay, now he was getting confused on top of annoyed. "My girlfriend? What exactly is going on, Trisha?"

"The woman who owns the circus, the one you took the children too. Your brother is on his way there and..I think he intends to cause her problems. Once he found out you'd taken the children there he interrogated them about it and they told him about how you intend to buy into her circus and that you're involved with her. He wouldn't tell me what he intended to do but-"

Hanging up on her Julian turned his head to meet Sue Ling's questioning look. "Find out where Catherine is and book us on the next flight there."

Knowing better than to argue with him when he got that look in his eyes Sue Ling placed the necessary phone calls then called Paris to ask him to wait for them on the Preventers' steps so that they could pass the tape off to him before heading directly to the air field to catch their ride. Relaying the information to everyone concerned she personally handed the tape over to Paris as soon as they arrived, exchanging the few bits of relevant information she'd gotten before agreeing to call each other later, the two parting ways with Sue Ling getting back into the car and Paris heading in to review the tape. Within thirty minutes Sue Ling and Julian were in the air, on their way to the colonies.

* * *

"Where's Julian and Sue Ling?" Trowa asked as he came into the room, having received Paris's page that the hospital security tape was in.

"On their way to the colonies apparently. Julian got a call from Trisha that his brother was on his way to have a little chat with your big sister about her involvement with him. Oh to be a fly on the wall." Looking up in the process of pouring coffee into his cup the two shared a look of reserved amusement. "And yes, I pointed out she could handle anything the bastard threw at her but Julian is Julian. The whole knight in shining armor complex."

"Seeing as she's made a habit of throw knives at people I'm not really worried." Shrugging Trowa reached out to take the coffee cup his friend held out to him. "Trisha, that's the name of the girl you mentioned before, who Julian had feelings for. You said she was related to you by marriage, through Julian's brother?"

Trowa really did never forget anything, Paris marveled, though he was similarly gifted. "Yeah. She and Julian dated in university but then she dumped him for his older brother, the whole dark and brooding type to Julian's happy go lucky personality. She didn't see just how dark he was until she was stuck with him."

Since the woman had betrayed Julian Trowa felt himself hard pressed to feel sorry for her. "Your family is more than a little screwed up, isn't it?"

"Tell me about it. The only reason Lex has never pulled a Cecil on our asses is because their mother's family is as rich as ours and he stands to inherit all that without any inference or possible rivals. They're very much into the first born mind set and even I'm willing to admit that Julian would be a bad choice as the head of a company, much less an advertising empire. So Lex has all that to look forward to plus his share of grandfather's empire so he's pretty much set for life without having to lift a finger in our directions. He doesn't even bother to kiss up to grandfather the way some of the others do, because he could honestly care less what any of us think of him."

"Well at least if he did come after you he'd be direct about it."

Nodding Paris didn't want to think of what Lex might be capable of if he ever did get it into his cold blooded head to try and cause trouble for his cousins or brother. Oh sure, Lex enjoyed tormenting Julian whenever the chance presented itself but as a whole, Lex didn't seek out those vicious confrontations. "As you said, our family is definitely screwy. Almost as screwy as Quatre's stalker."

"Well lets watch the tape and hope that screwiness causes her to mess up."

"From your lips to God's ear."

Watching the tape they couldn't find anything that particularly caught their attention, everything seeming pretty mundane to them as the traffic thinned out with time and all was pretty quiet right up until the point where Miss Kimi's daughter came rushing out of the room, calling out for help while she frantically gestured towards her grandmother's room. Then medical personnel descended into the room like a swarm and when Miss. Kimi left the room it was with a sheet over her face, her granddaughter following close behind, so distressed she was practically being carried out of the room by one of the doctors.

"So the granddaughter was in the room when she passed away." Paris noted as he turned the tape off. Since there were laws in place forbidding the use of security tapes in hospital rooms they could have no idea what had gone on within the walls of that room during the times is question.

"But she still could have nodded off or whatever was given to the woman could have been introduced into her system through her food or medication early on." Trowa pointed out, shoving his bangs aside for the moment in frustration. "We could try to interview the granddaughter but I doubt the senator is going to let us anywhere near her for the time being."

"She was murdered, Trowa. I'd bet my life on it."

"We'll start the interviews this afternoon and try to track down the costume, the accessories she was wearing. There will be something there, there always is."

"The jewelry was Miss Kimi's, Trowa. I recognized the earrings and necklace she was wearing from another engagement." And what kind of person wears their victim's jewelry to a party mere hours after killing her? The kind without anything resembling a conscience.


End file.
